Encyclopedia Ninja
by drunkdragon
Summary: What if the Kyuubi, when Naruto learned to tap into its chakra, gave him more than just that? What power lies in its gifts? NaruHina, KakaKure, maybe more. AU. Possible OOC. Originally called Kyuubi Personalities. lemons. complete.
1. A Trip Down A Waterfall

Hehe... gomen... I accidentally replaced chapter 1 with chapter six yesterday... oops. Well, here's the proper chapter! Enjoy and review!

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Chapter One: A Trip Down a Waterfall

Jiraiya dropped Naruto onto the ground. Slowly, Naruto began to regain his consciousness. He began to get up.

"Huh? Where are we?" Naruto asked. Looking around, there was what seemed to be a line of bushes. There were a few trees here and there. He took a look at Jiraiya's face. It was one of seriousness.

"Get up." There was no kindness behind it. Naruto quickly obeyed, knowing that Jiraiya wasn't a man to cross. He began to speak. "The training ends today... If you don't want to die then figure it out yourself."

"Wh-what?" Naruto was perplexed. He had just been taught the summoning jutsu, which he still needed to perfect. Why was Jiraiya ending the training now? His teacher slowly raised his hand and, using his finger, gave a strong push to Naruto's forehead. He flew through the line of bushes and saw what was on the other side.

Nothing. It was simply a place to fall.

And fall he did. "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jiraiya simply listened, hearing his pupil's scream slowly fade away.

'_Now... Let's see if the power given to you is really meant for you or not...'_ Jiraiya thought.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Naruto was still falling. Seeing a rock ledge come into view, he summoned some chakra into his hands. He grabbed it, but to his dismay, he slipped and continued to fall.

'_It's useless... The rocks are too slippery from the waterfalls. Plus, at that speed, you're not going to stick with a little bit of chakra...'_ Jiraiya thought after seeing Naruto's incorrect methods of saving himself. _'Naruto... You have no choice... You have to rely on the Kyuubi-s chakra. Use the key... this time from your end!'_

'_At this rate... At this rate... I'll surely die!!!'_ Naruto was in a full panic. He was hurtling down a waterfall and would soon meet his demise when he reached the bottom of it. He was sweating at the thought of him dying. All of a sudden, he remembers something about his summoning training.

Flashback 

He had just summoned a tadpole. A useless, small tadpole was just flopping around in front of him. _'Kuso, not again...'_

"NO!!! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, YOU MORON!!! RELEASE ALL OF THE CHAKRA IN YOUR BODY AS IF YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!!!"

End Flashback 

"Die..." Naruto said. All of a sudden, time seemed to stop for him. Everything slowed down and he felt as if he was being pulled into another world.

Kyuubi's Cell 

"Huh!?" Naruto swore that it looked like he was in Konoha's sewer. He was kneeling down. _'Where the hell am I? And how did I get here?'_

"OOOOOO" A sound emanated from somewhere down the hall. Naruto stood up and followed the noise.

'_This feeling... It's that chakra...'_ When he went through a passage, he looked up and saw a barred gate. On the gate was a piece of paper with the kanji 'Seal' seal written on it. Slowly, a pair of red eyes opened.

"Ugh!!!" 'Huge... What is it...?' Naruto thought. But the beast inside the gates thought differently.

"**Kid... Come... Closer..."** Naruto, letting curiosity get the better of him, slowly approached the gates, the gates that kept the beast from breaking free and escaping. Suddenly, several large claws went through openings between the gates.

"WHOAAA!!!" Naruto quickly backed away, intent on keeping himself from getting slashed into many pieces. The beast growled.

"I want to eat you but... this damn seal..." 

The answer then dawned upon Naruto. Behind the gates was the demon that was sealed inside of him. It was behind these gates that the creature that kept the children from playing with him lived. Behind these gates was where all of his troubles started.

"Y...You're... the Kyuubi!" _'I get it now... That red chakra... It was his chakra...'_ Naruto was standing in front of the very demon that could have destroyed Konoha, the place that barely scraped by his standards as a home.

"**For you to come here... What do you want?"** Kyuubi asked. Naruto, remembering that, in reality, he was hurtling down a waterfall, donned a face of determination.

"Hey, you stupid fox!! I'm letting you stay in my body, so... instead of paying me rent, lend me your chakra!" There was silence. Silence so quiet it was unnerving. Then the booming voice of the Kyuubi shattered the fragile silence.

"**GWAHAHAHAHA!!! If you die, then I die too eh? To threaten me like this... what guts..."** The red chakra began to swirl around Naruto's legs. Slowly, it wrapped around Naruto's body. "**Alright, I'll lend you my chakra.**" The Kyuubi gave off a foxy grin. **"But for coming this far and having the guts to threaten me, I'll give you a few extras. Use them wisely."**

"Wait! Aren't you going to teach me now?" Naruto asked.

Real World 

**(I'll teach you after you save yourself from dying a pitiful death.)**

Naruto suddenly found himself falling again at hundreds of feet per second. _'This is the feeling...'_ Remembering his real reason as to why he was thrown down in the first place, he bit his thumb and did a few hand seals. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!!!"

Much smoke had filled the area surrounding Naruto. Several limbs shot out from the clouds and locked themselves onto the wall. Slowly, a silhouette of the summoned beast emerged from the smoke. Smiling, he landed softly on the body, completely caught up with the fact that he had summoned an animal. Slowly, he took a look around. "WHAT THE HELL?!?"

Jiraiya could see the puffs of smoke and knew that Naruto had successfully summoned a frog. "Good job..." He then faintly heard Naruto's voice, which sounded very much like, "What the hell?!?"

Jiraiya was wondering why Naruto yelled that out loud. He then saw some strange things. Being so far away, he couldn't see it clearly, but something was different. Rather intrigued by such differences, he took out his telescope, which he normally kept for spying on women, and looked a Naruto. "Wait a minute... Good Kami-sama!!!" He saw something rather strange about the frog.

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What did Naruto summon? And what are the gifts that Naruto will recieve? Find out in the next chapter!


	2. That Is Not A Frog

I are BACK!!! And with another wonderful chapter! I want to thank my reviewers. You guys rock!!!

Do not worry, I will interchange stories in which I work on. I'll do this story, then my other, then this one again, and then the other, and so on.

And now two responses to two reviewers...

Xoni Newcomer: I know that chapter one follows the manga closely, but I did not want to start from the beginning, but rather the part where Naruto is pushed off of the cliff. And I understand that I tend to rush the romance. I am using this fic to work on my romance writing. I do not intend to have TRUE romance until after the Sasuke retrieval mission. But there will be a few fluffy friendship moments here and there.

miksan: This will stick closely to the manga until I get to the Sasuke retrieval mission. Then it will be AU from there.

A/N: I'm thinking of changing the Title of this fic. So I may change the title. I will tell you what the title will be when I post the third chapter, and it will be changed when I post the fourth chapter.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Ahou - retard

A/N: And Adyen, Naruto did NOT a giant naked woman, though he, being how stupid he is, could probably screw up something and somehow do that.

And now, the Second Chapter!!!

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Chapter Two: That... Is Not A Frog 

There is a book in circulation in all of the hidden villages. It holds all of the information for a shinobi's needs. With many entries, it is commonly found in the home of a shinobi and sometimes that of a civilian. It has a few basic jutsus, some limited information on clans, weapons that are used by the village, scrolls, chakra utilization, and even regular creatures that are useful when it comes to hunting for food. They also store the names of famous, or infamous, ninjas that came from that village.

It's called the Encyclopedia Ninja, written by the contributed effort of many, many shinobis. It is famous within the shinobi world and is a wonderful resource of knowledge along with reading just for pleasure. The Encyclopedia Ninja is updated every ten years, making sure that it is up to date and that it gets rid of obsolete information.

Each hidden village has their own set of Encyclopedia Ninja in an attempt to keep their village's secrets a secret. If a shinobi or civilian from another village attempts to steal it, it will explode upon touching it, which does a wonderful job at keeping the secrets, well, secret. So far, no one has successfully stolen a copy of Encyclopedia Ninja from a different village.

The entry for frogs from the Encyclopedia Ninja is written as follows: _'Frogs are_ _four-legged, amphibious creatures. It is normally a hue of green and about the size of the average man's fist. It has no tail and sometimes has large eyes. Their tongues are sticky and long, useful in reaching small insects, its prey. They have no claws and no teeth. Certain frogs are venomous to touch. Those that are venomous normally have brightly colored skin, which is used to warn off predators. Their skin is often bumpy. Due to the fact that they some are venomous, it is suggested that one does not eat a frog unless he or she is sure that they will not get sick from eating it.'_

'_Frogs may also be summoned for battle. In order to summon a frog, one must sign a summoning contract (look up page 1049 for more information on summoning contracts). Some are meant for combat while others can be used for transportation, keeping objects safe, etc. Currently, the only known people who have signed a contract to summon frogs are Jiraiya, one of the legendary sennin, and the Fourth Hokage, both of them from the Hidden Village of the Leaf.'_

By no means, according to the Encyclopedia Ninja, did the beast Naruto had just summoned resemble a frog.

For one, frogs have four legs... Well, so did the creature that Naruto called out.

Okay, so maybe it had a slight resemblance to a frog, but that's all.

Frogs do not have teeth or claws. They do not have a tail. They do not have fur. They are amphibious. That was what Naruto remembered from his copy of Encyclopedia Ninja. And Naruto was sure that he had signed a summoning contract for frogs.

The creature that Naruto summoned just happened to have nothing in common with a frog except having four legs. It did have teeth and claws. It did have a tail. In fact, it had three tails. It did have fur. Whether it was amphibious or not, Naruto decided to leave that stone unturned.

**(This is one of my gifts to you, kit. It's a summoning contract between us foxes. If you ever need the summoning contract, summon a fox with the contract in mind and it will be summoned with it.)**

Naruto took a better look at the beast he was on. It resembled that of a fox. Its fur was soft and appeared to have a red-orange hue. The tails were bushy and each had a white tip at the end. Yes, definitely not a frog.

"What is your order, master?" the fox asked.

"Huh? What do you mean, master?" Naruto asked dumbfounded.

"Since you have summoned me, obviously you are my master. Besides, this is the first time we foxes have been summoned by anyone, so therefore we answer to you." The fox said. It's booming voice echoed off of the wall.

"...Okay... In that case, let's get out the hell of this place!"

"You got it!" With that, the gigantic fox leapt out of the chasm and into the air, its three tails flowing in the air. It landed close to where Jiraiya was. "Is that all, master?"

"Yeah." With that, the fox disappeared in a puff smoke. Jiraiya, however, was confused; he had the jaw-drop to prove it. He had the seen boy sign a summoning contract for frogs, not foxes. So why did he summon a fox? Did a summoning contract for foxes even exist?

"Naruto... How did you summon a fox?"

"Well, when you threw me down the chasm, I had a face to face meeting with the Kyuubi. He let me borrow his chakra and a few other things for having the guts to threaten him. One of them was the summoning contract, though I never signed it myself." Naruto explained. "But I have no other idea what the other 'gifts' are."

"Well... since you did successfully summon a creature, I guess that ends today's training. You are free to go." Jiraiya then started down the path to the bathhouses.

"But I'm not tired yet!" Naruto wailed. He would not rest until he got a full day of training. He needed all of the help he could get his hands on to beat the crap out of Neji for Hinata on the day of the match, which just happened to be a few days away.

"Then train yourself, you baka! Try to use the Kyuubi's chakra properly. Maybe you can find another one of those 'gifts' from the Kyuubi." When Naruto thought about it, that didn't sound like such a bad idea. Jiraiya then left Naruto alone to find a way to peak at more girls.

"Stupid Ero-sennin... Now let's see... in order to tap into Kyuubi's power I need that feeling... so..." Naruto took his time to try and replicate the feeling. But to no avail. It just didn't work. _'AAARRGGHH!!! Why does this have to be so hard???'_

**(URUCEE, KIT!)**

"Huh? Who said that?" Naruto wondered out loud.

**(Me, kit. It's Kyuubi.)**

"Nani? How can you talk to me? And how could you hear me in the first place?"

**(I hear your thoughts, kit. So all you need to do is to think a thought and I will here you.)**

_'Oh... I see...so what are you going to teach me? Any new jutsus?'_ Naruto was a dead sucker for shiny new jutsus. 

**(I won't be teaching you any jutsus yet... You'll have to earn them.)**

_'Stingy kitsune no baka...'_

**(I HEARD THAT!)**

_'How'd you hear- oh yeah...I forgot about that...so what will you be teaching me then?'_

**(_'Ahou...' _Anyway, if you ever need my chakra, just talk to me. Anyway, I'm now going to teach you something new, so pay attention. I'm going to lend you some of my chakra. Now, while I'm channeling my chakra into you, think of all the people you are willing to protect. I'm starting now.)**

'_Why though?'_

**(Do you want a gift or not?)** That shut Naruto up.

Naruto could feel the new surge of power. Immediately, he closed his eyes and began to think _'Sakura-chan... Sasuke... Kakashi-sensei... Ero-sennin... Konohamaru... Iruka-sensei... Sandaime...'_ The list ended there. In the entire village of Konoha, there were only seven people he would be willing to give his life to protect. In fact, those were the only seven people he knew would be willing to do their best to protect him as well.

Immediately, Naruto felt something change. He opened his eyes and took a look at himself. Slowly, emanating from his stomach, a flash of red light grew. He closed his eyes once more. Slowly, the light faded away and he took a look at himself. He was quite perplexed at what he saw.

He was no longer wearing his orange jacket and orange pants. His clothing had changed from his normal attire to something else.

_'Hey... what's up with these, Kyuubi?'_

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What 'gift' has Naruto recieved? And how will Naruto utilize the ability? What else will Kyuubi give to Naruto? Find out in Chapter Three!!! 


	3. The Fiery Youth Of Konoha

Hey all, it's me with another chapter for you guys! Wow, 23 reviews for just chapter two! Thank you all! And now to respond.

taekmkm: That would be very funny. I actually laughed when I read this. But no, in my story, abercrombie does not exist.

DragonMan180: That could be a possibility... I'll think about it.

VentMonster: For you (and all others who complain about shortness) I have made this longer than the first two chapters.

Light Seiger, ignomiouslyanonamious and Anei Akuma: Yes, I forgot to add those two to the list. First, I updated the chapter with Iruka in it, then I had to update it again with the Sandaime in it! Thanks for catching that.

Little Fox Kit: After this chapter, you MAY go through ff withdrawal, though I did not intend it to happen. You cannot sue me.

Mistress DragonFlame: I left Hinata out of the people that he would protect purposely. Thank you for your concern though.

A/N: I have come up with the proper title, and I will call this fic Encyclopedia Ninja, seeing that I plan to have many, if not all, of the chapters start out with something involving the Encyclopedia Ninja. So for chapter four, the name will be changed. Also, I have a request. What do you think about the introductions which involve the Encyclopedia Ninja? Good? Bad? Please tell me.

Also, I took Naruto's new outfit from Kyo in King of Fighters 2000 and tweaked the back of his white jacket a bit. I think it looks pretty cool. Also, he will recieve another costume change later on in the story.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

And now, for the Chapter Three!

A/N: I got the information about the Mantis stance from a website. Also, I reposted this chapter after Xoni Newcomer informed me that i forgot to show Naruto's reaction about his future children. Thank you, Xoni, for catching that.

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Chapter Three: Fiery Youth Of Konoha (Really)

In the Encyclopedia Ninja, there are many styles listed under Taijutsu. However, they would only tell you on how the Taijutsu stance came about. Take the Mantis Stance. The offensive and defensive moves were taken from the way a praying mantis attacked and defended itself. The inspiration behind it was when a man saw a Praying Mantis defend itself from a Cicada.

However, if one were to look for the history of how Taijutsu came about, he or she would have to look long and hard hours in the oldest of texts and even then, you may not find the answer. Most scholars believe that there was no one true creator for Taijutsu. Many people developed their own stances, each using certain tactics from strong or clever animals, like the tiger or crane.

However, there are some rare Taijutsu stances that were made with no outside influence from animals. Take the Jyuuken, used by the Hyuuga clan of Konoha. With their bloodline ability, they used their hands to deliver chakra into their opponent's Tenketsu points, each different point causing certain effects. What may look like a glancing blow can actually be death hiding under a white veil. That is the reason why the Hyuuga clan is so prestigious in Konoha.

The most commonly used form of Taijutsu is Tekken. Though it runs on simple ideals, it still gets the job done. It is very basic, and very effective. Some people may add a few of their own twists to it to get the upper hand against their opponents.

However, if one would like to both defeat and humiliate his or her opponent, then there is a really easy move to use. In fact, you do not even have to learn any specific stance. All you must do is first put your hands together like a clap, then clench your middle, ring and pinky finger for both hands, making the hand seal for tiger. Or you may replace the fingers with a kunai. Whatever you choose, do so and then shove it up someone's ass with much force. The result? Konoha's Ancient Taijutsu: 1000 Years Of Pain. Painful. Or you can just get drunk and use Tekken.

Whatever you choose, it was time for Encyclopedia Ninja to be updated.

**(These clothes come with your new Taijutsu stance: Holy Fox Style. It's called that because the attacks, though powerful, are not very deadly. However, if you add enough power into your attacks, you can kill someone if your not careful. Take a look at yourself in the stream over there and take note of the changes.)**

Naruto took a look at himself. The clothes he wore was no longer his normal attire, but was something else. He had on a white unzipped jacket with a few black lines streaking across here and there. Underneath the jacket was a black long sleeve shirt. It had a black cross thinly outlined in white. He had black gloves that left his fingers uncovered and the back of his hand was also open. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a wallet chain coming out of his right pocket. The bottom cuffs of his pants were a little torn. He no longer wore sandals, but had white shoes with black laces on.

But that was not all. Naruto took a look at his hair. It was still messy and still required the help of his forehead protector to keep it from falling into his face, but it was no longer blonde. It was a chestnut brown. The clothing he wore definitely gave him the appearance of a tough opponent. But it also gave the surreal feeling that he was some holy being, despite the fact that he was short.

He took off his jacket and got a look at it. The front did not have any kind of design except for the black lines. However, when he turned it around, there were some black kanji written on it. It read 'God of the Foxes.' Naruto tossed the jacket back on.

'This change of clothing and hair isn't permanent, right?' 

**(No, you will only have this style of clothing and hair when you summon my chakra and use this kind of Taijutsu. When you stop using my chakra, the clothing and hair goes away and leaves you with your original look. But remember, if you want to look like this, you need to think of those that you care for when I give you my chakra.)**

'Okay. But what's the difference between this and any other regular Taijutsu?' 

**(Throw out any kind punch.)** Naruto did so and found that there was no visible difference whatsoever.

'So far, nothing appears different. Kyuubi, are you cheating me out of this?' 

**(Let me finish the lesson. Now focus some of my chakra into your fist while you punch and when it is as far as you can reach, release the chakra out of your hand.)** Naruto began to gather the Kyuubi's chakra into his fist. It was now surrounded by an orange glow. He threw a right hook and released the chakra. He was surprised by the effect: shortly after the punch movement ended, a foot-long line of crimson fire seemed to have gone about the trajectory of his fist an inch away. It was about two inches thick in the center and got thinner towards the ends. The flame dissipated within a second.

"Hey! That's pretty cool!" Naruto said out loud.

**(The ability of this stance is that you can summon fire into any part of your body: your legs, hands, torso, etc. Hell, you could light yourself on fire! As long as you're releasing a bit of chakra at a constant rate from some part of your body for this Taijutsu style, you will produce fire in that part. Also, fire of any kind will not affect that area. So you can light yourself on fire and sit through fire jutsus and then beat the crap out of your opponents.)** Naruto then lit himself on fire using the method Kyuubi described. And true to its word, he didn't get burned. The clothes weren't even singed. The grass, however, quickly burned up in a flash.

**(This is a lot different than gathering chakra into your fist and punching. When you do that, your punching strength is enhanced but that's all. When you release it, it makes the chakra a visible flame and it can be just as destructive. Also, it has a wider range of attack.)**

**(You can also use this Taijutsu style without my chakra, but with your own. When you do, the fires will be blue instead of crimson. I'm going to stop channeling my chakra to you now.)** The surge of power left Naruto and so did the hair color and clothing. Just to make sure, Naruto once again lit himself on fire, this time the flame being blue. And once again, Kyuubi's word was unbroken.

**(A wonderful way to use this Taijutsu is to throw both flaming and non-flaming attacks. It's a good mix-up to your opponent. First, you appear to miss, and then suddenly the fire burns them. It would probably leave your opponent wide open. And the fire doesn't even have to hit your opponent either. The force of the explosion, depending on how you punch, can throw them off balance.)**

**(However, It does have some serious drawbacks. When you have transformed, you cannot use any jutsus. And if you continue to make flames, you will slowly drain yourself of chakra at a heavy rate. However, due to the fact that you have amazing stamina and a large chakra capacity, you could probably continue to use the flames and not completely use up your chakra. So try to increase your chakra capacity. But you should also train your chakra control as to not waste any of it.)**

**(This style of Taijutsu comes with some attacks forms. However, you can go around making some of your own attacks if you want. Whatever you do, do NOT tell this secret to anyone. You do not want to reveal your trump card. Also, only you or your children could use this Taijutsu; in order for it to work, it would require my demonic blood.)**

'_What?!? I don't want my kids to go through the kind of hell I went through!'_

**(That's too bad for you, kit. But at least they'll have a father and mother there to help them.)**

'_Yeah... but is there no other way around this?'_

**(No, all of your descendants will have my blood in them and they will all have the same seal you have. And it will not dissipate between each generation; there will always be the same amount of my blood running through them as the amount that runs through you and they will always have the seal. Now go be productive little kit and train. The attack forms will come to you naturally. They'll just pop into your head.)**

'_Interesting Kyuubi, interesting.'_ Naruto thought. _'But what are the attack forms?'_ Instantly, time seemed to have frozen itself again. The running of the stream was no longer heard. Naruto then saw another entity of himself fade into existence. It executed a few flaming attacks along with some attacks that used no flames at all. It then faded from the visible plane of existence. The stream started to run again.

'_Weird... Oh well. I may as well practice those moves.'_

Several hours passed and the sun was beginning to set. A sweating Naruto had learned most of the forms, but still needed to perfect them. So far, when he threw out right and left hooks, the flames would leave a small line of fire, dealing widespread damage. When he gave a straight punch, it left a small ball of fire, more precise and it was a little bit more explosive. He could also add flames to his kicks.

Then he remembered something. _'Hm... Making your own attacks eh? May as well give it a shot. I think I'll first figure out how to get the fire into my hand instead of coming out after punching... I think I'll make my own version of the Chidori! Yeah, that's it, a flaming Chidori! Hehe, Sasuke will be so jealous when he sees this!'_

Naruto began to summon monstrous amounts of chakra into his right hand. Slowly, his right hand began to glow blue. _'Now I got to make it so that it's in the form of a fire... But since I need to release the hold on my chakra, I have to do it when I hit my opponent. So that means I won't be able to hold the fire in my hand... yet.'_ He then remembered that, when Kakashi used the Chidori, he used a thrusting motion. So Naruto did a thrust and released the chakra.

**Elsewhere**

Hyuuga Hinata was walking home. It was a normal day for her. Suddenly, there was an explosion. She looked around and saw some smoke rising somewhere off in the distance. _'That's strange... an explosion coming from the forest...'_ With her interested piqued, she went off in the direction of the explosion.

Back to Naruto 

'_Too much chakra...'_ Naruto was blown back about twenty meters. It turns out that when he released the chakra, it blew up in his face. There was small patch of burnt grass where he was standing before he was blown back. _'Or not enough control...'_ He slowly got up again. There were numerous burn marks on him. Some of his orange clothing was singed.

Naruto once again summoned the chakra to his hand, this time not as much. _'So if I release too much chakra, it will blow up in my face... But what if I release and then try to contain it...'_ Naruto slowly released the chakra. This time, a small blue flame was seen growing in his hand. _'And contain it.'_ Naruto then did his best to keep the chakra from escaping. Slowly, the flame stopped growing, and then it finally stopped and stayed the same size. However, the size was rather small.

'_Kuso... If I want it to be bigger, I'll need better control... at least I can hold the flame now.'_ His train of thought was interrupted.

"N-Naruto-kun? W-What are y-you doing?" Hinata arrived at the place of the explosion to find Naruto holding a strange blue flame in his right hand. At first she was confused. _'What's Naruto-kun doing? Hmm...'_ then she realized who was holding the fire. _'Ahh! Naruto-kun's here!'_ simply seeing him sent her face into a frenzy of blushing. She began to tap her fingers.

"Eh? Hinata, what are you-AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Naruto lost his concentration on the chakra, and thus caused his chakra to feed the flames to grow into a fairly small bomb. The flame in his hand exploded and sent a rather burnt Naruto flying back another twenty meters into a tree. He slowly slid down and began to lose consciousness.

"AHH! Naruto-kun!" Hinata quickly ran to his side. She quickly checked for a pulse. Lucky for her, there was one. She then quickly withdrew her hand and began to blush, having just touched the boy whom she had been watching for so long. She was a bit surprised about her rare outgoingness.

A blushing Hinata was the last thing Naruto saw for that day.

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A new Taijutsu stance! What are possibilities? And how will the rest of the shinobis react when they see it in action? Wander not, for the next chapter shall come!


	4. Hospitals Are A Wonderful Place

It's another chapter from me! And from now on, this fic will be known as Encyclopedia Ninja! And now to comment.

Rokudaime-kage: Narut knew about the Chidori because a) He saw Kakashi use it and b) He probably asked Kakashi to train him for the main matches so that he could learn the Chidori.

Dragon Man 180: This story takes place after Naruto's fight with Kiba.

Xoni Newcomer: Thank you for telling me that I did not write how Naruto would react to the fact that his children would also contain the Kyuubi. I reposted chapter three, so it should be fixed now. And for Sasuke... well, I'll deal with it when it comes.

joekool: I needed to change his hair color to make him have extra similarity to Kyo.

Manatheron: Yes, there will be another Taijutsu style for Naruto. However, I will not use the name Fallen Fox Style.

DotDotDotMan: I know that nobody likes slow updates. I hate them too. But that is something I can't really control. I am a sophmore at school and homework is a pain. It's also pretty tough juggling two stories, since I am also working on my other Naruto fic. Sorry about my updates being slow.

Anei Akuma: I'm sorry, but I already planned this out to be a NaruHina fic. Perhaps I'll make another fic with Naruto being paired with someone else... but that's only if time allows.

To all of you who believe that I should have used or commented about Iori Yagami: Don't worry. I will use Iori's stuff eventually. I couldn't use him yet because earlier, the Kyuubi told him to think about people he would be willing to protect. And since Iori is a rather evil character, I can't use him yet.

A/N: This chapter is about eight pages long. I took most of the dialogue between Naruto, Shikamaru, and Gaara from the anime, which was translated by Anbu/Aone. Also, updates will probably appear less frequently. I'm sorry, but right now I have no idea how Naruto's fight with Neji will be.

This chapter is a little AU. He had to end up in the hospital to somehow save Rock Lee from dying right?

Now I have a request to all of the people who can legally vote in the presidential election: On November 2nd, please take the time to vote for our new president. America is in a crisis and we need leadership. I do not care who you vote for. Please vote for the sake of this nation. Thank you.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

On with the Yondaime Chapter!!! (haha)

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Chapter Four: Hospitals Are A Wonderful Place 

Ninjas are drawn here everyday. Whether it is visiting a friend who was hurt or being rushed into the emergency room, hospitals are the number one reason why most ninjas are still alive today. Their medical technology and medic-nins are top notch and need to pass certain tests in order to work in one.

The Encyclopedia Ninja stated that Konoha's first hospital was ordered to be built by the First Hokage. It was even rumored that the First Hokage actually used Henge to take the form of a construction worker to help out in the building of it. Back then there were no electric lights. They used candles to help light the facility. They knew very little about the human body.

Also, their tools and methods were often crude. Though giving medicine was not a problem, when they needed to perform surgery or something else of that caliber, the patient often died. They also had no anesthesia. Doctors were hired not on how well they operated, but how fast. Their only way for the patient to help deal with the pain was a small pebble. They told the patient to bite down and that it would be over soon.

The death toll in hospitals worldwide continued to rise until medicine took a gigantic step forward. That step happened when Uta Rakeshi of Konoha developed the first medical jutsu recorded in the history of man. In fact, the medical jutsu he developed is still in use today.

Legend says that after he received a large cut on his wrist during a battle, and it did not stop bleeding. He applied much pressure to it. Amazingly, it had slowly begun to heal until it was gone. He decided to cut his wrist, though not as deeply. He applied the same amount of pressure to it again, and noticed that he had unwittingly gathered chakra into his hand. Slowly, the chakra began to heal the cut, albeit slowly.

After a year of cutting himself to help further his study, he had perfected the jutsu so that it not only healed, but it healed quickly. He went to the First Hokage and cut himself and then quickly healed it, much to the surprise and pleasure of the First Hokage. He made the decree to have Rakeshi teach the hospital staff the first medical jutsu, which drastically cut down hospital deaths.

Eventually, Konoha decided that this medical jutsu should be known throughout the whole world. They published a book about it and released it to the public around the world.

And that, according to Encyclopedia Ninja, was how the first medical jutsu was created. And that was also the first step for what is now the great hospital in Konoha. Yes, hospitals are indeed a wonderful place.

It just so happened that Naruto had ended up in the bed of such a wonderful place. And it just so happened that Shikamaru and Hinata was next to his bed in this wonderful place.

"Ne, Hinata. How did Naruto end up here anyway? The doctor said he had a lot of burns on him." Shikamaru asked.

"W-well," She started, "I-I don't know what he was doing... b-but he was holding something blue in his hand. A-and then... I-it blew up." Hinata said.

"Strange." Shikamaru responded. Naruto then began to stir. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was in this wonderful place. Hinata quickly turned her face to Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, y-you're awake!" Hinata stuttered. When Naruto turned to look at her, she blushed and shifted her gaze to the mattress, which she now found very interesting. She began to play with her fingers.

'_Strange girl.'_ Naruto thought. He then turned to face Shikamaru. "Where am I?" Shikamaru, noticing that Hinata was too infatuated with the mattress to answer, chose to field that question.

"You're in the hospital. Hinata brought you here. From what I heard, you've been asleep for three days straight!" Shikamaru said.

"Three days... THREE DAYS??? WHEN DO THE CHUUNIN MATCHES START???" He stood up on his bed.

"They start tomorrow, now keep your voice down!" Shikamaru said.

Hinata noticed that Naruto stood up wearing a black shirt and boxer shorts. Or at least she noticed the boxer shorts. She saw the boy whom she loves so much... wearing boxer shorts. She froze up. Then her body did what seemed most natural at that time.

She fainted and fell on her back. She did not blush. She did not tap her fingers. She simply fainted in this wonderful place. _'Naruto-kun... in boxer shorts... sexy...'_ was her last thought before she hit the floor.

"Why the hell didn't you- eh? Hinata?" Naruto was holding onto Shikamaru's shirt when he noticed that she fell on the ground. "Ah! Hinata!" He quickly got off the bed and knelt beside her.

"Quick, Shikamaru! Help me put her on the bed!" Naruto yelled.

"Troublesome." They lifted her onto the bed. Naruto searched for a pulse around her neck. He found one and was relieved. Shikamaru then remembered something.

"Ne, Naruto. The doctor said that when you were brought in, you had numerous burns on you. Hinata also said that when she found you training, you were holding some weird blue thing and then it blew up. What were you doing?" Naruto started to sweat.

'_Uh oh, I can't tell him! Umm... err...'_ "I was trying to make a new jutsu." Naruto lied. Well, it was a half lie. He was actually trying to make a new attack for his Taijutsu. _'Oh yeah, I am soooo good at this lying crap! Thank you Kakashi-sensei!'_

"Anyway... why the hell are you here, Shikamaru?" Due to the fact that Hinata had fainted, Naruto didn't have the chance to ask him.

"Chouji's in the hospital too."

"Did he get hurt or something?"

"No, ate too much barbeque." Naruto managed to turn a laugh into a sneeze. Ignoring him, Shikamaru continued. "The doctor said that he wouldn't be able to eat anything for a while." At the word 'eat', Naruto's stomach did a number.

"Eh heh... speaking of food... got anything to eat?" Naruto asked.

"You're in luck today. I brought some fruit for Chouji, but since he still can't eat, we may as well share it." Shikamaru pulled out a basket with fruits. He threw Naruto an apple, which he caught. He was about to bite down when he turned to Hinata. She was currently lying down on the bed. He decided to pull the blankets over her. When he did, he noticed that she had a nosebleed.

Naruto couldn't figure out why Hinata had a nosebleed. Normally, if someone were hit on the nose, then they would bleed from there. Or, if someone saw something incredibly sexy, then they would get a horrendously large nosebleed. And from what he remembered, Hinata fell on her back. It all didn't make sense to him. Though there wasn't very much blood, he decided to do something about it. It ruined the way she looked.

'_That nosebleed... just doesn't belong there.' _"Ne, Shikamaru, give a me a tissue." Shikamaru handed one to him. Naruto wiped off the blood, missing the faint blush that she gave off. _'She's probably dreaming about something...'_ He was about to bite into his apple once more when he suddenly stopped and gave off an evil grin. Shikamaru simply stared at him.

"What's so funny?" Shikamaru asked.

"I got the perfect idea. Let's eat these in front of Chouji!" Shikamaru sighed.

"What a troublesome guy..." He tried to think of something that would deter Naruto from doing that to Chouji. Sure, he may be fat and have nothing better to do than roll around in battles. But Chouji was still his friend. His attention turned to Hinata.

"What about Hinata? Are you just going to leave her here? That nosebleed might just start up again, you know."

"Hmm... now that you bring her up... I guess I can't really just leave her." Naruto thought for a moment. Then he came up with a plan. Taking a pen and some paper, he wrote about Hinata's condition and how it happened. He then called for a nurse.

"There, now we can go. The nurse will take care of her." Naruto said.

Shikamaru sighed. _'Troublesome,'_ he then got up to leave with Naruto. But before they left, Naruto turned around to take one last look at Hinata. She seemed perfectly normal, save the fact that there was a small trickle of blood slowly coming out of her nose.

'_I hope the nurse gets here soon. That nosebleed doesn't seem to be stopping.'_ The duo then went off to torture Chouji.

**_Somewhere Else In The Wonderful Place_**

A strong wind blew through Rock Lee's room. He was sleeping. His black hair fluttered in the wind and settled back in its place. The door slowly opened to reveal a person with a gigantic gourd on his back. On the gourd strap, there was a forehead protector with the Sand emblem on it. Meet Gaara, the shinobi from the hidden village of Sand with a dangerous and unstable mind.

The memories of the Chuunin Preliminaries returned.

**_Flashback_**

"AAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Lee's left arm and leg were being crushed by Gaara's sand. Slowly, Gaara sent out another wave of sand, this time aiming to kill. He was so close now. He would not let his existence be erased.

A blur of black leapt in. This blur blocked the way between his sand and his enemy. It blocked the sand and pushed it away. Gaara was confused. _'Why would he help someone so weak?'_

"Why do you help him?"

The blur, which turned out to be a man, replied. "He is a subordinate I love."

**_End Flashback_**

Gaara was now holding his head with his hands. Slowly he looked up, revealing the veins in his eyes. The memories of his childhood returned to him. Him, his caretaker, the picture of his mother, all of it flashed before him.

The stopper came off of his gourd. Slowly, his sand began to swirl around Lee. It flowed beneath his blankets and his pillow. Gaara would kill Lee, to ensure that he would continue to exist. Panting, Gaara raised his hand in an open palm. And he closed it.

Or so at least he attempted to. Once more, he tried to close his palm. Once more, he failed at killing Lee. _'My body... it won't move!'_ he was frozen. His body turned on its own accord to meet his assaulter. It was Shikamaru. He had captured his shadow.

Suddenly, a blue blaze of fire traveled toward his victim. It engulfed Lee for a moment and then left him. Another burst of flame surrounded Gaara for a moment, and then left, turning all of the sand around him into glass.

Naruto, lifting the blankets, smiled when he noticed all of the newly formed glass around Lee. After tossing the glass aside, he turned to face Gaara.

'_Holy crap, how did he do that? When we entered, I don't remember Naruto doing any hand seals for a fire technique... What did he do?'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Hey you!" Naruto gave him a punch to the face, causing Shikamaru to feel the pain. "What the hell are you doing here?" He said to Gaara.

"Hey, Naruto! When I'm using the Shadow Imitation technique, I move along with him. Got it?" Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, Shikamaru." Bits and pieces of sand fell to the floor. Gaara's Armor of Sand was cracked. Naruto and Shikamaru paid little attention to it when they turned to Gaara. Naruto walked back to where Shikamaru was and turned to face Gaara.

"What are you trying to do?" Naruto asked. He received no answer. He clenched his fist. "Hey! What did you try to do to Fuzzy Eyebrows?!" He received his answer now.

"I tried to kill him." Gaara said.

"What?" Shikamaru and Naruto exclaimed.

'_How can he remain so calm? He shouldn't be able to move because of my Shadow Imitation technique.'_ Thought Shikamaru.

"Why do you need to do that?" Shikamaru asked. "You won the match. Do you have some sort of personal grudge against him?"

"No," Gaara replied. His answer surprised Naruto and Shikamaru. "I going to kill him, because I want him dead." his answer shocked Naruto.

Naruto pointed his finger at him. "That's the most selfish thing I've heard!"

"You grew up in a bad environment, didn't you?" Shikamaru guessed. "You're really egocentric." _'Actually, this guy is weird. I'm getting the chills. If he does something, Naruto and I can't handle him. Geez, what should I do?'_

"If you bother me, I will kill you too." Gaara took the opportunity to get the point across.

"What?! Just try it, then!" Naruto exclaimed. He held out his fist to Gaara. Shikamaru decided that he wanted to stay alive that day, and tried to get Naruto to stop.

"Hey! Cut it out, Naruto!" _'I guess I'll bluff to see how he'll react,'_ thought Shikamaru. "We know that you're strong, since we saw your match with him. But this guy here and I are pretty strong as well. We didn't show our strongest move during the preliminaries. And it's two versus one here. You're at a disadvantage. If you listen to us, we can let you go." Gaara decided to say something about Shikamaru's statement.

"I'm only going to say this once more. If you bother me, I will kill you!" It really got to Shikamaru.

'_This guy...'_ But before Shikamaru could finish his thought, Naruto butted in.

"You can't kill me!" Naruto pointed his finger again at Gaara. Again, Shikamaru wanted to live through this day.

"I've been telling you to stop doing that! He's as strong as a monster! You know that, right?" Naruto lowered his hand and gave off a small smirk.

"I have a real monster inside of me. I won't lose to him." Shikamaru, for the third time today, believed that life was better than death.

"Don't piss him off, you idiot!" Shikamaru stated. There was a brief period of silence. Gaara tilted his head forward.

"A monster, eh? Then I am the same." This caught Shikamaru off guard. "As you said, I did not grow up in a nice environment. I took the life of a woman who was called my mother when I was born. To become the ultimate ninja, my father used a ninja technique to bind an incarnate of sand to me. I was a monster at birth." Again, his statement caught Shikamaru off guard. Naruto was also shocked to hear this statement.

'_Incarnate of sand?'_ Shikamaru thought.

"It is called Shukaku, and it was sealed inside of a teakettle. It is the living soul of an elder priest from the Hidden Village of Sand." Shikamaru thought for a moment.

"It must be one of the binding techniques to bind a soul before birth. To think that you guys would resort to such a thing... you guys are crazy." Naruto, however, had a different thought going through his seemingly non-existent head.

'He has... something inside of him, too?' Shikamaru continued to talk.

"That's not what a parent should do. What a twisted way to show love."

"Love?" Gaara said. "Don't measure me by your values. Family? Let me tell you what kind of link I have with them. They are just lumps of meat linked by hatred and murderous intent. I stole my mother's life to become the village's masterpiece. And as the Kazekage's son, my father taught me the secrets of the ninja techniques. I grew up after being overprotected, spoiled, and left alone."

"I thought that was love. Until that incident happened." He closed his eyes.

"What incident?" Shikamaru asked.

"What happened?" Naruto enquired. "So what happened?" Slowly, a vicious, insane smile grew on Gaara's face. He reopened his eyes to reveal the red veins in them.

"These past years, starting from when I was six... my father tried to assassinate me multiple times." This brought Naruto and Shikamaru into a state of fear. But Shikamaru snapped out of it.

"But you said that he spoiled you. So what do you mean?" Gaara was still smiling.

"A being that is too strong soon becomes an embodiment of fear. Since I was born from the usage of a technique, my mind was unstable. The idiots in my village finally noticed that my emotions were unpredictable. To Kazekage, my father, I was the village's trump card. But at the same time, I was a threat. After I turned six, it seemed that they classified me as a dangerous being. I was the village's dangerous tool, but still handled with care. I am only a relic of the past that they want to get rid of."

"So why do I exist and live?" Gaara continued. "I asked myself that question, but could not find an answer. But I need those reasons while I'm still alive. Or it would be the same as me being dead."

"What is he talking about?" Shikamaru wondered out loud. But Naruto had found someone who had been like him, someone who had suffered like him.

'_I... understand... He's the same as me.'_ Naruto thought.

"And this is what I concluded..." Gaara said. "I exist to kill everyone other than me. I finally found relief inside the fear of being assassinated at any time. By killing the assassins, I was able to recognize my reason to live. I fight only for myself, and only love myself. As long as I think that other people exist to make me feel that, the world is wonderful. As long as there are people to kill in this world... to make me experience the joy of living... my existence will remain."

'_What's with him?'_ Shikamaru thought. A bead of sweat was seen near his sideburn. _'He's really out of it.' _

'_I was alone too,'_ thought Naruto. _'I didn't know the reason to my existence and suffered, but... Iruka-sensei acknowledged my existence, so I was able to feel like I was finally alive. But he... he has been alone... and felt alive by killing others?'_ Naruto clenched his right hand. _'Such a guy exists? The worlds we live in are completely different! There's no way I can beat a guy like him!'_ Naruto took a step back.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. A trickle of sand was heard. Gaara had apparently released more of it from his gourd. Now it was flowing around him. Gaara had a calm look on his face.

'_Nani? I should have immobilized him with my Kage Mane no Jutsu!'_ Shikamaru thought. Naruto was stunned, still dwelling on the fact that Gaara was like him. He turned his head to face Naruto. "Naruto!" But he realized that Naruto was too entranced in his thoughts. "Naruto! Hey, wake up! What a troublesome guy! Naruto!" But Naruto wouldn't snap out of it. He just watched the sand around Gaara.

"Let me feel...!" Gaara growled.

"This is it for us...!" Shikamaru yelled. The fact that Naruto was now staring death in the eye did not seem to faze him from his thoughts. But another voice was heard.

"Stop right there." It was Gai. "The main matches are tomorrow. There is no need to get hasty. Or do you want to get hospitalized today?"

Once again, the thoughts of Gaara's childhood flooded his brain. The mere sight of that man caused the memories to return. Slowly, the sand that was shot out at Naruto and Shikamaru retreated into the gourd. The glass stayed in its place. He took one of his hands off of his head and walked away, leaving two genins speechless. He approached the door.

"I will kill you guys for sure. You just wait." He left this wonderful place by the door, leaving a jounin, two genin, an injured ninja and some glass lying on the floor.

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Someone who is like Naruto? How will Naruto fare against Gaara? And what about Neji? Will he beat him with his newly acquired Taijutsu, which he has yet to perfect? Find out in the next chapter! 


	5. Need A Ride On My Fox?

Hey, hey! It's another chapter! Have fun! And thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you guys like my story. You guys are wonderful. This chapter isn't as long as the last one, but it's getting there.

Come to think of it, you never actually read about Hinata getting a nosebleed from thinking about Naruto too much. Maybe it's because you only see that happen to guys...

Either way, this chapter runs along the lines of when Naruto has his chat with Hinata before the matches. Of course, I added a few tweaks here and there. And I promise that the long awaited match between Neji and the improved Naruto will take place in the next chapter!

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

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Chapter Five: Need A Ride On My Fox? 

On page 1049 in Encyclopedia Ninja, there is an entry for summoning contracts. Here is what is written. _'A summoning contract, according to what is currently known, is a contract signed with a shinobi's blood to show that they could summon an animal to help them in battle. Only a select few shinobis were actually given the right to summon the animal. Often, the person carrying the summoning contract selected who he believed is a shinobi worthy of being able to summon them.'_

'_There were many summoning contracts in the world. First, however, if a shinobi wanted to be able to summon, they had to find the current carrier of the scroll. Then, they had to become the person's disciple and train under them. Only then would the current carrier see whether they are worthy of summoning or not. This was the usual way to acquire summons for battle.'_

'_There are many animal summons in the ninja world. There is a contract for frogs, slugs, snakes, and many, many more. Some animals have yet to allow their kind to be summoned, and hide away so that they would not be found by shinobis who wanted an animal to summon.'_

'_In order to make a summoning contract, a shinobi had to first befriend an animal. Then, he or she had to befriend it enough so that it would willingly give you a drop of their blood. Then the shinobi would write the kanji of the animal onto his arm with ink, streak the blood of the animal across it, and then use the proper hand seals to summon it. However, their first summon would not be the animal itself, but the summoning contract, which the person carried. After that, whenever they used the summoning jutsu, the animal would come out.'_

'_The different sizes of the animal changed, depending on how much chakra the shinobi put into it. If they put in very little, then they would get a very small animal. However, the more chakra they put in, the larger the animal would be. If a shinobi put in enough chakra, they could summon the animal boss, which would be the largest and most powerful of that kind of animal summon.'_

It was time to add multi-tailed foxes to the list of creatures that could be summoned.

The fox summoner was slowly walking towards the Team Seven training area. Naruto was down on his confidence today. He was afraid to go against Neji. He was staring at the ground. Giving out a heavy sigh, he looked up.

Hinata was already at this place, obviously lost in thoughts. She was grasping one arm, looking at a gigantic log propped vertically on the ground. Naruto was a bit confused as to why she was here. _'Naruto-kun... in boxer shorts...'_ Apparently, she was still thinking about what had happened in the hospital. She had the blush to prove it, though Naruto paid no attention to it.

"How are you Hinata? Have you recovered from your fall in the hospital?" He said. Immediately, she stood up straight. With a slight blush grazing her cheeks, she immediately hid behind the training log, letting only a piece of her body be visible from where Naruto was.

"Na-Naruto-kun!" Hinata stuttered. She remembered how she woke up in the hospital under some blankets. She also remembered how she got there. _'I remember seeing Naruto-kun... in boxer shorts...'_ Her cheeks reddened at the thought. "Yes, I'm okay... but why did you come here? Isn't today the main matches?"

"I, uh... you know... I just came to see this training area, since this is where I became a genin," Naruto answered. Hinata simply stayed behind the log, that small blush on her cheeks, thinking about the boy she loved... wearing a black t-shirt and boxer shorts.

"Really? But why?" She asked.

"Uh... No reason! Who cares about the reason?" Naruto quickly covered up the fact that he was scared about he matches. He turned his back to her.

"Yeah... sorry." She replied. _'...Boxer shorts...'_ A short silence followed afterwards.

"Ne, Hinata," Naruto turned his head to the side to look at her out of the corner of his eye, "Neji is your relative, right?"

"Yes." Naruto turned to face her completely.

"Is he strong?" He enquired. Another short pause took place. Hinata turned her head down to stare at the floor. She still had that blush on her.

"Yes..." She replied once more. Naruto, upon hearing this, looked towards the ground. Anxiety filled his eyes.

"I see..."

"B-but you might be able to beat him, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. Naruto gave out a fake laugh.

"Haha... yeah! I am strong!" But that laugh ended soon. Naruto gave out a sigh. Hinata stepped out of her hiding and began to tap her fingers.

"I'm sure you can beat him, Naruto-kun," What she said caught his attention. She took a step forward. "Um, when you cheered me on, I felt like I had become stronger than before." Naruto's mind returned to the preliminary matches.

'_Hinata!!! Do your best!'_ Naruto remembered what he had said. _'To think that such words could help her so much...'_ Hinata's voice came back to his ears.

"After the preliminaries, I was able to like myself a little more." She said all this while tapping her fingers together, blushing. _'I'm not going to... take back my words... That is my way of the ninja.'_ The words rang clearly in her head. She continued to talk.

"If a stranger looked at me, it might seem like I haven't changed... But I think I was able to change. And I think it was thanks to you, Naruto-kun." Naruto's eyes could not see the admiration Hinata had for him. He didn't even see the fact that she was blushing at him so. He only saw the fact that she believed that she changed, and that she thanked him for it.

"Ne, Hinata." Naruto began. Hinata looked up to see the boy she loved so much.

_'Naruto... in boxer shorts...'_

"Did you really think that?"

"What?" she was a bit taken back when she heard him say that.

"I may look strong from your point of view, but I always screw up. And I just act strong because I'm mad." Naruto sadly said. And to Naruto, it was true. He always made things worse, no matter how hard he tried.

"That's not true!" Hinata almost yelled out. Naruto was a bit shocked at her outburst. She rarely talked that loud. She rarely talked at all. "Even if you did make a mistake, you were always, from my point of view, a proud man who makes a lot of mistakes." The blush was no longer seen on her face. Naruto simply let his mouth drop. "When I looked at you, there was an impact on my heart." The blush came back. So did the finger tapping.

"You're not perfect. You make mistakes, and you get stronger from them... I believe that that is true strength... Naruto-kun, you are a strong person, I think." Naruto still could not believe it. This quiet, shy, and most importantly, strange girl had faith in him. The boy that everyone hated. The boy that had failed the academy graduation exam several times. She had faith in him. Slowly, Hinata retreated behind the log, once again masquerading a part of her body from Naruto. Naruto's smile returned to him.

"Arigatou, Hinata." Hinata looked at him, the blush nicking at her cheeks. "I've always been last place in everything. I was nervous over nothing. I was a bit depressed, but I feel better now." Hinata smiled a bit after hearing this from him.

_'Naruto-kun! ...Boxer shorts!'_ She blushed. 

"I'll be going off to the matches now!" Hinata watched as the man she loved slowly walked away from her. Naruto turned his body a little so he could look at her.

"Hinata."

"Yes?" she looked up at him. _'What's he going to say to me?'_

"I always thought of you as..."

_'What? What? What do you think of me, Naruto-kun?'_

Naruto finished his statement. "A dark, timid, and weird person." Hinata lost heart and let her head drop.

'_Naruto-kun...'_ The man who had just called her dark, timid, and weird turned around and started to walk away.

"But you know something?" Naruto said. Hinata looked up at him. "I like people like you." Hinata was brought into another world by hearing those words.

'_Like you... like you...'_ were the only words that rang in Hinata's head. Naruto tilted his head once more to see her.

"Oh, be sure to come watch me beat Neji." The Kyuubi inside Naruto gave out a snicker.

_'What's so funny, Kyuubi? Is there something you would like to share?'_

**(Heh... You can't tell, can you?)**

_'What the hell are you talking about?'_

**(The way she blushes... Come on, you're not that stupid are you?)** Silence greeted the demon fox. **(...Ahou.)**

_'Hey! Don't call me that!'_

**(Yeah, well, what are you going to do about it? Besides, the matches start now.)**

Several loud explosions were heard. Naruto looked up into the sky to see some fireworks go off. "Crap! It's time already? I'm late... late!" Seeing as he needed a fast way to get to the stadium, he bit his thumb and did a few hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He slammed his palm on the ground and smoke appeared.

As the smoke cleared, an orange fox about as tall as a human appeared, its two tails swishing in the air._ 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu... Isn't that a jounin level technique? Naruto-kun... se_x_y and awesome!'_ Hinata thought. _'... Boxer shorts...'_ She blushed. Apparently, she would have that image of Naruto burned in her mind forever. Well, at least for now.

"You called, master?" the fox said.

"Take me to the stadium!" Naruto hopped onto the fox and sat down. He turned to Hinata. "Say... since we both need to go to the same place... need a ride?" Hinata was speechless. She was astounded at the fox. Its fur was soft looking and the two tails looked magically attractive.

'_Oh my gosh... Naruto-kun's offering me a ride on his fox! Take the offer! TAKE THE OFFER!!!'_ But her timidity and blushing kept her from answering. Naruto took her speechlessness as a no.

"I guess not huh... well then, see you later," Naruto's fox was about to take off.

'_Argh, stupid girl! You let this chance go to waste! Well don't just stand there, do something!'_ "W-Wait!" Hinata almost yelled. Naruto's fox stopped. "I-I'll go with you."

"In that case, hop on!" A blushing Hinata got onto the fox and they left the training area. After a while, she decided to place delicately place one of her cream-colored hands on his shoulder. She completely forgot about Kiba in the midst of riding away with the man she loved.

**_Streets Of Konoha_**

"Out of the way!" An energetic blond called out. Naruto's fox was taking huge leaps and bounds through the streets. This brought a lot of attention to Naruto. The villagers' faces were staring at him, their eyes betraying them, revealing hate and disgust. At the sight of this, Naruto immediately saddened, being reminded about the burden he had to carry, the one he was afraid to tell the people of his generation.

'_It's those looks again... I hate those looks. But one day, those looks will change. One day, I will become Hokage!'_ An empty smile found its way to Naruto's face. Hinata, however, saw the faces of the villagers and had questions running through her head. She had no time to let the blush amble its way onto her cheeks.

'_Naruto-kun... why do they look at you that way? It's almost as if they hate you... I want to understand why, Naruto-kun... I want to understand you.'_ Hinata thought. She wanted to be by Naruto forever. And in order to do that, she had to understand him.

The end of the ride came and Hinata reluctantly got off of the fox. It disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Well, I guess you should find your seat now, Hinata. I'll see you after I kick Neji's ass!" With that, Naruto ran off into the stadium. Hinata slowly walked to where her seat was, her mind echoing her thoughts.

_'Why, Naruto-kun? Why?'_

* * *

Hinata is beginning to wonder why Naruto is hated in this village. She has taken the first step to understanding him. As for Naruto... well, he still in square one. But that's not what matters. It's Neji VS. Naruto! What will happen? Find out in the next chapter! 


	6. The Genius Vs The Dropout

 AHAHAHAHA! It's another chapter! And a rather long one too, (11 pages)! Thank you for your reviews! Man, 97 for just 5 chapters! I never knew it would be this popular! And now, response time! 

Firedude328 & Your Bones Akin: To tell you the truth, you don't see many stories where Hinata is slightly perverted. Maybe it's because she looks too innocent. Well, if you were a girl and saw your boyfriend/boy you loved wearing boxer shorts, you'd probably have that image burned in your mind too, right?

Manatheron: Don't worry, eventually, Naruto will accidentally sneak a peak at Hinata.

Dragon Man 180: Read this chapter, and you'll see.

Kyuubi No Tai: I know that it should probably be demon summoning, but you have to remember that Naruto used Kuchiyose no Jutsu to summon the first fox.

SephyNarutocloud: Please do not complain about length. I choose to stop the chapter at certain points. If you have a problem with that... well, there's not much you can do about it.

nonengel: Yes, ANBU probably should have, but lets just say that they didn't see the fox.

A/N: Whew, managing two stories is pretty hard. It's pretty tough to post a chapter every four days for both stories. But I'll try to keep it up. If their may be a long wait for the next chapter, I'll warn you guys about it. Also, I reposted this chapter, correcting an error; I forgot to include Jiraiya on his list of precious people.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

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Chapter Six: The Genius Vs. The Dropout

No one really knows how the different rankings for ninjas came about. In the olden days, nobody's strength was calculated by ranking. And no one underestimated the other. Only those who have fought them had the right to either consider them strong, or weak.

It just says that one day, according to Encyclopedia Ninja, some strange old Kage came up with the idea of ranking the shinobis. No one really gave a damn. And then slowly, their position got to their heads. A jounin believed that he was much more powerful than a chuunin. Thus, when a chuunin challenged a jounin, sometimes, the jounin would lose.

And it kept going. Everyone kept underestimating each other. No one had a care for the other, believing that if they outranked the person, than they were automatically better than them. And the same happened in schools. If someone had really high grades and compared his or her own self to a dropout, of course the believed that they were better than them.

However, the writers of Encyclopedia Ninja do know how the Chuunin Exams were created.

One day, the Kazekage promoted a genin to chuunin. However, that genin was rather weak. So when the Kazekage sent him on a rather difficult mission, the chuunin was killed. The Kazekage discovered how weak the chuunin actually was. So, in order to prevent such things from happening again, he met with the other Kages and discussed about the problems, believing that they all suffered from poor judgment sometimes.

And he was right. They had all made that mistake at least ten times. They discussed about how they could avoid those problems. Eventually, all of them agreed upon an idea.

The very first Chuunin Exam was held in the Hidden Village of Sand. There, each village's top genin were sent to compete for the position of chuunin.

And today, the main matches of the Chuunin exam are being held in Konoha, with passionate genin battling their way to pave the road to their dreams. The first match was about to start.

"Got it?" Genma said. "The first match is Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji. The rest of you need to go back to the waiting room." Slowly, the other five participants trudged their way to the waiting room. Also, Hinata was getting her seat somewhere in the stands. And Kiba didn't look that happy.

"Ne, Hinata, didn't I tell you to meet me at the Team 7 training grounds?" Kiba said.

"W-W-Well, you were late." Hinata answered. Kiba simply huffed. Then Hinata heard some talk coming from the two chuunins next to her.

"To think that kid actually made it this far," said the first chuunin.

"Yeah, but someone who made it this far on luck alone won't get any further," Chuunin Number Two said. "That Naruto kid, that is." Hinata simply listened to their conversation.

"He has a bad opponent." Number One replied. "He can't beat a person from the Hyuuga Clan." A smirk grew on Kiba's lips. Apparently, those two chuunins committed the same mistake he did when he went against Naruto. Akamaru then made a few sounds.

"What's wrong, Akamaru?" His dog made a few more sounds. "What did you say?" Kiba then began to look around. Then he saw ANBU personnel. _'Why are the ANBU here? Did something happen?'_ Slowly, Kiba redirected his view back to the match.

Slowly, Naruto and Neji got into their positions. Neji decided to talk.

"You look like you to want to say something." Neji smirked. Naruto did not say anything, but instead thrust out a punch to him. Hinata was sitting on the edge of her seat.

"I told you before," Naruto began. "I will win!" Neji simply activated his Byakuugan and he slowly began to analyze Naruto. He was able to read that Naruto was confident in his ability, and slowly, Neji entered his the Hyuuga Clan's stance; the Jyuuken.

"That makes this even better," Neji gave out a chuckle. "When you find out the true reality, I will enjoy seeing your discouraged eyes."

"Stop chattering," Naruto said. A fierce wind blew throughout the stadium, causing the spectators to cover their faces. "And lets begin!" Genma decided to start the match with the following words:

"Now, first match, hajime!" The crowd cheered. Eventually, the noise died down, the people intent on watching the match unfold.

Silence filled the arena. No fighter moved. Well, it was not totally silence. Hyuuga Hiashi was talking to his non-failure daughter, Hyuuga Hanabi. "Watch closely, Hanabi. There is no one else who has inherited the bloodline limit of the Hyuugas as strong as him. Your older sister does not even compare with him. You may just learn something." Speaking of older sisters, Hinata was simply watching, not moving an inch.

More silence ensued. Naruto decided to break the silence. Or rather the beast inside Naruto decided to.

**(Kit, Hyuuga Neji is from the Hyuuga Clan. They excel in close combat. So as soon as he attempts to hit you, release your chakra from that point to burn his hand.)**

'_Good thinking, Kyuubi, however, I think I should put up a façade...'_ Naruto quickly did some hand seals, with Neji scrutinizing his every move. Naruto had a smirk on his face. He finally ended with a tiger seal. "Katon: Flaming Body no Jutsu!" Naruto then put his hands by his side. It was a fake jutsu. He wasn't even sure if one like that existed. But he decided to 'use' it to make it look like it was a jutsu to intimidate his opponent.

'_I do not see any chakra moving about. It's a trick.'_ Neji smirked.

With that, Naruto pulled out three kunais and launched it at Neji. Neji did his job of deflecting the kunais. And Naruto gave charge. Kiba yelled out in outrage. He could not believe Naruto's stupidity. Perhaps he gave him too much credit earlier. Naruto threw out a punch, which Neji easily redirected. Somersaulting away, Naruto once again threw out a punch at Neji. And then he threw out more, making sure that he did not release chakra through his hands. He chose to hide his trump card.

Neji blocked and evaded them. Naruto then threw out an upward kick to him, which Neji also dodged. Leaping up into the air, he then gave another kick to Neji, which, to Naruto's dismay, was also dodged. Once again, he gave another punch. But Neji was too fast, and he got close to Naruto.

'_He's striking for the chest region. Channel... and release!' _Naruto did just that. And a small explosion of blue fire greeted Neji's hand. He pulled back his hand to keep it form getting burned. By doing so, he could not land a hit on Naruto.

Neji leapt back. _'What kind of jutsu did he use? He releases blue flames from his body! ... It's another one of those defenses. But it doesn't matter... I'll find a way around it, and it's not an absolute one.'_

There was a murmur running through the crowd. Each member of the audience had clearly seen the fire somehow form in front of Naruto's chest. All of the competing genin were also shocked. In fact, both the Hokage and Kazekage were shocked.

"You do know that you have no chance at winning? Even if you have that flashy jutsu, I will find a way around it." Naruto simply smirked.

"I'm just seeing how good you are." Those words shocked Neji. "The real fight starts now." Naruto then did his favorite jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Four more Narutos joined the battle. His favorite jutsu managed to surprise the two chuunin who were sitting next to Hinata. The four clones took out a kunai.

Neji was now in deep thought. Because each clone had an evenly distributed amount of chakra, he could not tell which one was the real one. And even if he did, then he would get his hands burned of he tried to hit him. "But there is only one real one." Neji said.

The four Narutos smirked and gave off a chorus, "Don't act so tough."

"Come, if you wish," Neji egged. The real Naruto gave off a smirk. The four clones commenced their attacks. First, Neji placed his hands on the backs of two clones and somersaulted forward. Then, he redirected the other two clones' hands, which held kunais. Another clone went to kick him in the neck, but Neji faked the contact and leapt back, pulling off a somersault. Hinata tensed up.

"Kuso, well get him on the next try!" the real Naruto said. The clones charged once more. Neji leapt up into the air and began to spin. He hit his heel against one clone while kicking the other on the chin. Both of them disappeared. The other two ran from the sides. Neji pushed them in front of him. When the turned around, he hit them in the chest. When the clones landed on the ground, they disappeared. Hinata was preoccupied with the safety of Naruto.

'_He has eyes on the back of his head too?'_ Naruto thought.

'_So his clones can't use the jutsu...'_ thought Neji.

"Becoming Hokage, ne?" Neji started. "You can't like this." He turned to face Naruto. "I can see a lot of things... with these eyes. Your talent is determined when you are born. In other words, everything is predetermined at birth." This caused rage to build up within Naruto.

"Why... Why do you always try to label things like that?"

"Then are you saying that anyone can be Hokage if they try hard? Only a chosen few are to become Hokage. Look at reality closely! Those who become Hokage are born with that fate. It's not something you can become if you want to. It's already determined by fate. People are different. They can only live in the indisputable flow of life. But there is just one fate that everyone possesses." Neji stared Naruto in the eyes.

"And that is death." Neji finished. Hinata was still watching intently. Naruto's left hand, which had clenched into a fist, began to shake.

"So... So what?" Naruto gave a pose; he had a fist thrust out at Neji. "I don't give up so easily!" He put his hands in a seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And soon, many clones surrounded Neji. They all charged at Neji, with one being left behind. They all started to throw out kicks and punches, with Neji evading all of them and managing to land a few blows on the clones themselves.

The clones then surrounded Neji. But he smirked. "I told you that I'm not that stupid." Neji gave charge to the one Naruto clone that did not get close to Neji. _'I already know which is the real one!'_ With that, Neji gave a jab to Naruto's chest. Hinata gasped. But Neji had a different thought. _'Wait a minute... No flames? Damn it!'_ The clone had a smirk on.

"I don't think I have to explain." The clone disappeared, leaving a confused Neji.

'He was one step ahead of me, leaving a clone around?' 

"I've been attacking you with everything I got!" With that, Naruto, who was in the air, gave a punch to Neji. But Neji just smirked. Naruto's punch had hit a wall of chakra. Immediately, Neji began to spin. The force of this attack sent Naruto flying a few meters away.

"What was that?" Naruto asked Neji. His opponent smirked.

"Did you think that you won?" Neji said. Hinata had a surprised look on his face. Hiashi's hand was trembling. Kyuubi's voice rumbled in Naruto's head.

**(That would be the Hakkeshou Kaiten, one of the Hyuuga's techniques. First, he releases chakra from his Tenketsu points, and then he spins, creating a wall of chakra to protect him. Since it's very much like the way you make flames, you could copy this.)**

"Damn you... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled out. Six clones appeared out of thin air and all of the Narutos began to surround Neji and charged. Neji smirked and let out another Kaiten, knocking away the Narutos. The clones disappeared.

"Kuso..." Naruto said.

"This is it." Neji said. "You are within range of my divination." _'I know that I'll probably burn my hands, but I need to take him down.'_ Naruto stood up. Neji once again got into his stance. "Jyuuken Move: Hakkeshou Rokujuuyonshou!" Neji then gave a charge. "Hakke! Two strikes!" And true to his thought, Naruto gave of some flames from his body to help protect him.

But Neji took in the pain and still hit him, effectively closing two points on Naruto's chest. "Four strikes!" A smaller burst of fire came to protect those points, but once again, Neji bore the pain to hit him. "Eight strikes!" The flame did not appear. Neji smiled. He had successfully sealed his Tenketsu points. There would be no more flames for today. "Sixteen strikes! Thirty-two strikes! Sixty-four strikes!" The last hit blew Naruto away; blood was dripping from his mouth.

Genma approached. "I guess that's the end." But slowly, Naruto sat up. He tried to stand, but found it very hard to do so.

"I sealed all sixty-four Tenketsu points on your body. You can't stand up anymore." Naruto swore and Neji smirked. "Mortifying, isn't it? You are on your knees against a power you cannot face, discovering how powerless you are. It's just an illusion that hard work can make dreams come true." Hinata was watching at Naruto. She started to cough. But even then, Naruto did his best to stand up. And he remembered Rock Lee.

Lee was standing up. Even though he had fainted, he was still standing. His thoughts then went to Hinata. Both of them had stood up, even though they could not win. They stood up to keep trying. And slowly, Naruto stood up. Neji was shocked.

"This guy... This can't be!" Naruto simply smirked.

"I told you that I wouldn't give up that easily." Hinata, caught up in the action, started to cough up blood.

"Ne, Hinata, you're bleeding!" Kiba said. One of the chuunins looked his way.

"Is she okay?"

"You're still hurt from the match. Hold on, Hinata!" Hinata then turned her eyes to the battleground.

'_I'm not going to be weak... I'm going to see Naruto-kun win.'_

"Stop fighting," Neji suggested, "It's going to be the same, even if you continue. I have no grudge against you." Naruto simply scoffed at his 'suggestion.'

"Shut up. Even if you don't, I have one against you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why, when you're so strong, why do you have eyes that say you know all? Why did you mentally attack Hinata when she was trying her best?" Naruto yelled.

"This has nothing to do with you."

"You ridiculed Hinata and called her a failure. I don't know what happened between the branch and the head family, but bastards who call other people dropouts will answer to me." Naruto said.

"Very well. I will tell you why. I will tell you about the Hyuuga's fate of hatred!" Slowly, Neji took of his forehead protector to reveal the cursed seal. And Neji explained it all.

"Why do they have to do that? Why separate the head and branch families? What kind of meaning is there to the weird seal?" Naruto asked.

"This seal on my head is not for decoration." Neji continued to explain his family's history. "It is the main family's tool to keep us in fear. It can easily destroy the brain cells of the branch family. It can kill us, too. And it will only go away after my death, sealing the Byakuugan ability."

"The Hyuuga's bloodline limit is very unique and many shinobi villages are after it. And so the branch family is to protect the main family. And to keep us from rebelling, they put the seal on us." Neji then continued to explain the attempted kidnapping of Hinata. The said girl continued to listen to the story that her cousin told.

"Death is the only way to escape the cursed seal. They were twins with almost the same strength, but when they were born first and second, their fates were sealed." Neji's grip on his forehead protector tightened. "And your fate was decided when I became your opponent!" Naruto simply stood there, drinking the information given to him.

"Your fate says that you will lose to me, and I can guarantee that." Neji smirked.

"You don't know that until we actually fight!" Naruto yelled. Neji gave off a scoff. Slowly, Neji put his forehead protector back on. "I don't know how tough you've had it since your dad was killed along time ago. But you have the wrong idea to think that fate decides your destiny." Neji was making the final adjustments to his forehead protector.

"You're hopeless." Once again, Neji activated his Byakuugan. He ran up and gave a swift hit to Naruto's chest region. Naruto was blown back. "Examiner, it's over." Neji turned to walk away. "You dropout." Upon hearing those words, something snapped inside of Naruto. Neji walked away.

"Don't run away..." Naruto weakly said. Neji turned around to see Naruto standing up. "I'm not running away. I'm not going to take back my words... That's my way of the Ninja!" Those were the words Hinata had said against Neji. The Byakuugan user's thoughts returned to that weak main family member.

"I've heard those words somewhere," Neji smirked.

"I'm not going to lose to a guy like you. A coward who blames everything on fate and other crap!" Naruto said.

"You know nothing," Neji barely whispered. "Don't lecture me. People are born carrying an unchangeable fate." Neji's eyes were charged with the Byakuugan. "To carry a seal that no one can remove. A guy like you will never understand what that means!" Another string snapped in Naruto.

Those words reminded Naruto of his painful childhood. No one would accept him. No one would acknowledge him. They all saw what he carried, not the real him. "No... I understand. So what about it?" Neji's eyes flared up in anger. "Stop acting cool. You're not the only special guy here. Hinata was suffering like you. She is from the head family, but she tried to change herself because no one would acknowledge her."

Hinata listened from the stands, trying to keep the coughing to a minimum. Naruto had just talked about her to Neji. It took her all she could to see the fight out.

"That's the determination she had. And she continued to fight, even after taking extreme injuries. And that goes for you as well," Naruto said to Neji. "The branch family is supposed to protect the head family and yet you did all that to Hinata, even though it was just an exam. You were fighting against fate, weren't you?" Those words hit Neji pretty hard. But Neji smirked.

"How are you going to fight? All sixty-four Tenketsu points on your body have been sealed. In the end, you'll end up just like Hinata-sama." Neji readied his Byakuugan.

"Shut up! Stop talking like your Byakuugan knows everything!" Naruto yelled.

"Then prove to me what you told me is true."

"Sure, I'll beat you and prove it to you." _'Damn... I have no chakra left.'_

**(Forget about me, kit? What about _my_ chakra?)**

'_Well, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use it against Neji.'_

**(Well, if you didn't hold back, then you probably would have beaten him by now! So use it now!)**

A small smile grew on Naruto's face. _'Give me your chakra, Kyuubi! Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, Kakashi-sensei, Konohamaru, Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin, Hokage-sama...'_ His mind crawled around to see whom else he would be willing to protect.

'...'

'..._Hinata,'_ and with that last thought, power surged through Naruto.

"The chatting ends here. Examiner, I intend to kill him. Feel free to stop me." Genma just scoffed. And so did Naruto.

'_I can't lose here!'_ Naruto thought.

"Why do you fight against fate so hard?" Neji asked. A short silence filled the void.

"Because... you called me a dropout." Upon hearing those words, Neji activated his Byakuugan. But he was surprised. A bit of red chakra began to swirl around Naruto. Neji, to his utmost surprise, saw the wounds that he inflicted to Naruto being healed.

'_Nani? How can this be?'_ Neji thought._ 'Chakra is leaking out of him! What's happening?'_ Neji stared. Slowly, Naruto's chakra system, starting from the middle, began to flow with chakra once more. Neji took a closer look at Naruto's stomach. Slowly, the chakra formed the head of a fox, and it stared right back at Neji, striking him with fear. Suddenly, the chakra enveloped Naruto, completely engulfing him from site.

'_Naruto-kun? What's going on?'_ Hinata thought. Everyone stared at Naruto. Even Gaara stared, shock filling his sleepless eyes. And slowly, the chakra dispersed, leaving Naruto to be seen by the audience. Surprise hit them, and it hit them hard. _'Naruto-kun... is that you?'_

Naruto had fully transformed into his 'God' style. _'Who is this guy?'_ Neji thought.

"Now then, let's begin." And Naruto charged. He gave Neji a right hook toward his head. He easily dodged it by moving backwards. _'Wrong move,'_ Thought Naruto, who was wearing a smirk, _'and release!'_

The sight of this new Naruto unnerved Neji. The white clothes he wore, and the now brown hair. Who was Uzumaki Naruto? First, Neji was winning by tremendous a tremendous amount. Now, they were back at square one, except that Naruto now had this new outfit. But it's just an outfit, right? As Neji dodged, he was surprised when a line of orange fire greeted his face. _'Nani? It's those flames again! But this time they're orange and he's using it to attack me, not defend from me! Did he use that jutsu to fool me?'_ The flames burned his right cheek.

Neji wisely backed away, putting some distance between him and Naruto. Naruto simply laughed at this attempt. "Surprised, Neji? I've been taking it easy on you." Those words shocked Neji to the core. "So you excel in hand-to-hand combat, eh? Let's see how well you deal with mine." Once more Naruto charged at Neji and instead of a hook, he gave Neji a straight punch.

Neji dodged the punch, only to have an explosion knock him off balance. Naruto seized this opportunity to land several non-flaming punches to Neji's chest and face. The audience now stared in awe. Here was the Hyuuga prodigy, who was winning, but was now getting burned and beat down like a rag doll. Naruto gave a spinning kick to Neji, sending him several meters away.

"I don't know about the Hyuuga's fate of hatred. But if you think it's impossible, than don't do a thing!" Once more, the fox summoner charged to attack Neji. "After I become Hokage, I'll change it for you!"

'_Not good! I need to use the Kaiten.'_ Naruto charged his fist with horrendous amounts of chakra and stopped short of the whirlwind. He thrust it into the whirlwind, releasing it from the inside. Both combatants were shot away, creating an explosion and tossing dirt into the air.

The crowed watched in awe. Here was the person whom the entire village seemed to hate. Among those were the blessed seven whom Naruto swore he would protect. Among those seven was the one girl who loved him. Hinata was worrying and struggling to keep herself from coughing out blood. _'Please be ok, Naruto-kun...'_ And much to Hinata's dismay, Neji was the first to get out of the hole he was in.

Many were surprised to see that Neji could even move. The burns on his body were numerous. One half of his body seemed to have been burned black from Naruto's attack. Painfully, Neji walked to the hole were Naruto supposedly lay. What did Naruto do to him? He could barely walk in a straight line. He looked in.

And he saw nothing. There was no body. Instead, there was a hole where Naruto should have been. A shattering of earth was heard underneath Neji's feet. He looked down to see a heel strike him in the chin.

And out leapt Naruto. He was still had his outfit change and it he didn't even seem to have a scratch. Naruto's other heel came into contact with Neji's chin again, this time launching Neji about ten meters into the air.

"I'm going to have to thank you for the move I'm about to do." With that, Naruto began to release chakra from all parts of his body except his feet. He gathered chakra there instead. Neji slowly fell down to where Naruto was. _'And... spin!'_ Naruto began to spin. "Kaiten!"

Neji was hit with Naruto's version of the Kaiten. Not only did it fling Neji into the stadium walls, it greatly burned Neji. Having been sent into the wall, Neji was slowly slid into a sitting position, feeling his consciousness slipping away. Eventually, the spinning red dome stopped to reveal Naruto. Many people were shocked, namely the other combatants, Hinata, and Hyuuga Hiashi.

'_He copied the Kaiten?'_ Hinata thought. _'But that should only be something that the Hyuugas can do... Naruto-kun... you never cease to amaze me.'_ Apparently, Hiashi had similar thoughts to this running through his own mind.

'_WHAT??? How could, as Neji called him, this dropout do something like that? ... Perhaps... he is a genius in his own right.'_ Hiashi looked at Naruto. And he gave him a small smile.

Naruto walked to where Neji sat against the wall. Slowly, the red chakra engulfed Naruto and returned him to his original state. "How were you able to copy my technique?" Neji asked the now normal Naruto.

"Neji, that is for me, and only me, to know how to execute the Hyuuga's Kaiten." Neji was attempting to keep himself from losing consciousness. "Do you know why you lost?" Silence filled the arena. "You lost, because you let this 'fate' crap get into your head. Instead of using your hands, feet, and brain to fight me, you used your words." Naruto's thoughts then drifted back to his academy days.

"I failed three times in the academy finals. Unluckily, the ninjutsu that was given was always the ninjutsu I hated the most. I sucked at the Bunshin no Jutsu." A bird took flight from a tree. "Quit complaining about your fate." Naruto said. "You're different from me, you aren't a dropout. So go and do something about your fate. Because by the time I become Hokage, you may not have another chance." And with that, Neji lost consciousness. Naruto walked away, having no scratches on him. It would seem as if he had not even gotten into a fight. Genma simply smiled.

"Shousa, Uzumaki Naruto." A loud cheer erupted from the stands. Not congratulating him, but rather the amazing battle. Only those present of the select seven applauded him.

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Victory goes to Naruto! But sadly, only a few truly applaude him. When will the people see past the fact that Naruto is simply human? Stick around for the next chapter!


	7. Tangling With Emotions

Whew! Another chapter is out! Thank you guys for the reviews! I'm happy that you guys like my fics and I will do my best to keep them entertaining. Now to give a few responses.

Dragon Man 180: Konohamaru has always been on the list. However, in the last chapter, I forgot to put in Jiraiya's name. Also Jiraiya was on the list in chapter two. Thanks for reminding me.

Xoni Newcomer: In chapter three, the fox told him that he would not be able to use any advanced jutsu, like Kage Bunshin. Besides, it would be more surprising for Neji.

Joekool: No, I will not write about the other matches. It's not really worth the time right now.

FMANaruto: I do not have plans on giving up on my story. Nor do I plan on giving up on 'Her Demon, His Angel.' I wish you the best of luck on your future story. And yes, I will read it, too.

Sephynarutocloud & TimeShifter: This chapter is solely based on some important talk between Naruto, Kyuubi, and Hinata. Hopefully, there will be more NaruHina moments, but during the arc where Naruto tries to find Tsunade, there won't be much talk of Hinata, though she will be mentioned at times.

A/N: Though I pray that it won't happen, updates for both of my fics may not be posted as fast for a while. Finals are coming up for me, and that's going to suck away a lot of my time. And after that, during winter break, I'm going to be in Europe. Sorry if that disappoints any of you, but after that, I will start spending more time on my fics. I have plans on finishing them.

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Chapter Seven: Tangling With Emotions

To the everyday shinobi, emotions are something that they can only have a few of. They can feel happiness and sadness, but they cannot true love. Deep hate is also one of those emotions that cannot harbor. Such is the life of the shinobi.

In the Encyclopedia Ninja, it states that emotions can get in the way of battle. If rage blinds one after seeing a loved one get hurt or killed, they could make rash mistakes and end up in a worse situation. Also, deep hate could make the person have a craving for revenge, and he could lose sight of the mission objective, achieving his own personal goals and helping only himself, not the village he serves.

Of course, ninjas would eventually be able to have emotions once more. They could do a lot of things that they couldn't before, like fall in love. Of course, that would come after they retire though. And even then, their past battles could come back to haunt them.

Encyclopedia Ninja clearly states that emotions are taboo. They hinder a shinobi, and it makes them weak. Emotions are just a set back for the shinobi.

But this wonderful book isn't always right.

And right now, Naruto was having trouble with his emotions.

Shikamaru, however lazy one would think him to be, had just recently left to set up a fake ambush to buy them some time to find and help Sasuke. And slowly, they were making their way to where he should be.

With each advancing step, Naruto was thinking about what had happened after he pushed Shikamaru into the arena.

Flashback 

Shikamaru had just landed in the arena, and Naruto was now speeding off to find Hinata. He said that he would see her after he kicked Neji's ass. And he would make good on it.

But Naruto suddenly found that finding the weird, dark, and timid person in the midst of thousands was a very difficult task. He did not bother to ask for where her seat was. He had almost given up hope. He breathed a deep sigh.

'Man, I'm never going to find Hinata in this place...' 

**(Oh yes you will.)**

'_Huh? What do you want, Kyuubi? I'm trying to find Hinata.'_

**(Well, I'm trying to help you find her.)**

'And how will you do that?' 

**(A few more gifts for you. I'm going to first bless you with a jutsu.)**

'_REALLY?'_ What a sucker for new jutsus. Immediately, the world stopped, much like the time when Naruto was shown the fighting forms of his new taijutsu. A clone of his self appeared in the stadium and did several hand seals, the last one ending in a seal he could not recognize.

Then the clone said, "Demon style: Death Replication!!!" And with that, a body of Naruto appeared. However, the replication was not a normal one. First off, the clone was lying on the ground, facing up. And from what Naruto could gather from it, the clone was dead. The clones then wisped away. Time returned to its normal speed and life went on.

**(That is a death replication. You can use it to fake your own death. Also, you can manipulate it so that the replication will have appeared to have died of different reasons, like being burned, drowned, starvation, stabbed by blunt and rusty spoons... you get the idea. Your only limit is your imagination. It can come in handy if you want to get the surprise on someone. Also, this technique lasts for seventy-two hours; however, you can lengthen the time by putting in more chakra.)**

Naruto was a bit impressed by the ingenuity of the jutsu. He smiled a little and thought about that last seal. _'Ne, Kyuubi... what was that last seal? I've never seen someone use it before, nor have I seen it in any books.'_

**(That would be the demon seal. In order to perform each jutsu I grant you with, you need to use that hand seal. And only you may use this jutsu, because one, nobody knows about that seal, and two, it requires my blood in your body. If anyone else tries, they'll get nothing.)**

'_Well... thank you for the jutsu... but that still doesn't help me find Hinata, Kyuubi.'_

**(That leads me to my second gift. I'm going to heighten your hearing and smelling senses. You'll be able to smell someone a mile away and you can hear sounds that no one else can pick up.)** And with that last word said, Naruto took in a sniff. Among all of the other scents in the crowd, Naruto felt pulled to one of them and began to quickly run in that direction. He faintly heard Hinata's timid voice.

"W-Where's Naruto-kun? He promised he would see me after his match with Neji." Before she even finished the last sentence, Naruto was next to Hinata.

"Ohayo, Hinata!" Naruto had appeared to the right of Hinata, who was looking to her left.

"Ahh! N-N-Naruto-kun! C-Congratulations!" Hinata said. She had that timid blush again. She restarted the habit with the fingers.

"It was nothing, really!" Naruto noticed the fact that she was twiddling her fingers again and gave off a small frown. He gently held her hands, pulled them apart, and set them at her sides. She gave off an even greater blush and a quick gasp.

"Hinata, you really shouldn't do that. It makes you look afraid." Naruto said. He withdrew his hands. _'Wow, her hands are... nice and elegant,'_ thought Naruto. _'Pretty, too,'_ Naruto turned to watch the match. Hinata, however, was in her own little world.

'_He just touched my hands... Naruto-kun just touched my hands...'_ Hinata could not think of anything else. All she could think about was Naruto. How he had cheered her on during the preliminaries. How he always seemed alone. How he always received bad looks from the villagers. How he had changed into that... battle god.

Those last three thoughts rang clearly in her head. Now was the time to ask, where everyone was too focused on the match. Slowly, she battled in her head, whether she should ask him or not. _'Would he feel threatened? Would he want to answer? It's to risky... but I want to know you, Naruto-kun...'_ Working up the courage, she opened her mouth.

"A-Ano, N-Naruto-kun," she faced him.

"Yeah, Hinata?" Naruto turned to look at her. Oh, if it weren't for those eyes, she could easily finish. But now, her throat seemed to have shrunk, choking her. She took a deep breath, blushing. She gulped and did her best to continue.

"W-Why is it that I-I always see you alone?" She could barely squeeze those words out. Taking a gulp, she continued, "Why do the villagers stare at you like that?" Before her throat could close up again, she finished what she had to say. "And how did you change into that... that... battle god?" That was the only way she could describe it. Besides, he did look like a god and it had the words 'God of the Foxes' on the back of his jacket. So it only made sense to call him a battle god.

Naruto instantly sat up straight. He had never thought of, no, he never even dreamed that someone would ask why. Now, here he was, staring down at a pair of white lavender eyes, its owner waiting for an answer. And however tempting it was to give her what she wanted, he could not. The risk was too great. He did not want to lose the acknowledgment she had given him. If he told her, she could turn her back on him and leave him. He would lose a precious person.

Hinata saw the reluctance of answering the question. _'Naruto-kun... what are you thinking?'_

All those years of living alone pulled a number on Naruto. He always felt insecure about the fact that someone that accepted him one day could hate him the next. He put up a mask to cover his sadness. And Konoha was to blame. The Fourth's plan backfired horrendously. Being seen as a hero was something only the Fourth hoped for. The village gave the back of its hand to Naruto. Except for his precious eight. They were the only people who seemed to acknowledge him, even though some of them may have had strange ways of showing it.

And now, here was one of his precious eight, asking him a question that he cannot answer yet. Because of how the village treated him, he had found it difficult in trusting people. And he opened his mouth to answer. "Hinata," she looked up at him, "that is a question I cannot answer for you as of now. I'm sorry, but currently, you cannot help me in my time of suffering."

His answer stunned her. What was Naruto suffering from? What had caused him to tense up and become reluctant in answering her question? To her, Naruto was so... mysterious. In fact, as of right now, she saw Naruto as being more mysterious than Uchiha Sasuke.

"W-Why not? I-I want to understand, N-Naruto-kun. I-I want to understand you. W-What is it that you're suffering from?" Naruto looked at Hinata, being thankful that she was the first one to ever want to understand him. Not even Sakura paid this much attention to him.

"I thank you for your concern, but I cannot tell you. Perhaps later, but not now, I promise you." And that was the end of those questions. "Now lets watch the matches." Hinata took comfort knowing that her questions would be answered sooner or later. She was glad to know that Naruto was sitting next to her, and that eventually, she would know the answers. She turned towards the matches to see that...

Shikamaru had given up. "WHAT??? That lazy bum!" Naruto stood up and yelled. Hinata gave off a quiet giggle. "I'm going to go yell at him. See you later, Hinata-chan!" Naruto felt a strange feeling inside of him when he got up and started running towards Shikamaru. One half told him to go and yell at that lazy bastard, while another half simply wanted to just sit by Hinata and talk to her. He was greatly confused.

Hinata, however, was in a wonderful state called bliss. Naruto had just added the –chan suffix to her name. Was he growing on her? It was a dream-come-true. NO, it was heaven on earth for her. She simply had that blush going again, and she had a noticeable smile on her lips. Her hands, however, stayed where Naruto put them, cherishing the moment where he held them.

Flashback ends 

'_What caused that feeling back there when I left Hinata?'_ Naruto asked himself. Leaping from branch to branch, he continued to try to find an answer to it. But he could not. He now knew that Hinata acknowledged him, and he was happy about that. _'I can't find the answer within me... perhaps...'_ Naruto turned to Sakura, _'perhaps I can ask Sakura-chan.'_

Kyuubi chuckled to itself. It gave off a foxy smile. **(_'Perhaps he's not as stupid as he seems...'_)**

They turned the corner to see Sasuke lying facedown on a tree branch.

* * *

They've found Sasuke! And now, they've got to deal with Gaara! What to do, what to do? Will Sasuke finally see the new and improved Naruto? And how will he react? Find out in the next chapter!


	8. Clash Of The Demons

I decided to be nice and post this chapter a day beforehand! Besides, I may not have time to do so tomorrow. Thanks for the reviews, guys! When you guys catch my mistakes, which I'm glad that you do, I can fix them to maket the story work better. And now, to answer questions.

Dragon Man 180: The part where Sasuke runs away may not take place for a few chapters. But I'll take the title as an idea. Thanks.

TimeShifter: I fixed that little problem. Thanks for catching it.

Xoni Newcomer: I have recently added the part where he can't use jutsus. Thank you for reminding me.

Valakun: I'm glad that I've managed to keep you interested.

To All who are expecting some more NaruHina fluff: There won't be any fluff between them in this chapter. Maybe the next one, but not this one.

A/N: There may be some times where Itachi is a bit OOC, but he needs to be that way in order for the story to progress like I planned.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

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Chapter Eight: Clash Of The Demons 

The Kyuubi, according to Encyclopedia Ninja, is believed to be the strongest demon ever known to man. With a swing of one of its nine tails, mountains would fall. With another swing, a tsunami would form.

The Kyuubi was called the King of Demons. There were other demons known to man, but none of them could even come close to matching its power. In fact, it was believed that humans could not stand a chance against it. That was, until the Fourth Hokage came about.

What is reality and what is myth, no one may ever know except for the Kyuubi itself. But what they do know was that the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi inside a newborn child. However, doing so cost the great shinobi his life.

It was the Fourth's dying wish for the child that the demon was sealed in would be viewed as a hero. But even if it was his wish, the townspeople, save a few, saw him only as a demon, and nothing more.

Well, now Naruto had to deal with another demon vessel that had also been shunned, but had taken a step onto the dark path.

Naruto took a look at Gaara. _'Is that Gaara? He's... changed,'_ Naruto took a good look at him. He had a tail, his left arm was grossly enlarged and malformed, and the right side of his face was... different.

**(That's Gaara. But he had managed to transform. From what I see, it appears that he had Shukaku sealed inside of him. Shukaku is a raccoon demon.)** Kyuubi told Naruto.

'_You know this... no, the demon inside of him?'_ Naruto had almost made the mistake that the villagers did: Seeing Gaara as a demon instead of himself. He would have to make sure not to judge people by looking.

**(Yes, before we were sealed away, we were destruction buddies.)**

'_Destruction buddies? I don't think I want to know about that.'_

**(Good, you wouldn't like what I would have told you anyway.)**

Sakura was tending to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke fidgeted a little. She was worried. She noticed the marks on his body. _'He must have gotten careless...'_ she thought.

Naruto remembered how Gaara told him about how he was bound with an incarnate of sand. How Gaara had gone around killing people brought chills down Naruto's spine. _'I hope I can retain my sanity and not go on killing sprees.'_

Sakura however had some other ideas going through her head. _'He beat Sasuke-kun? No, that's not possible.'_ Kakashi's summon spoke up.

"I'm not the fighting type, so don't blame me for not doing anything."

"You think I don't know that?" A vein appeared on Sakura's head. However, Sasuke was growling in pain. _'But we still have to get Sasuke-kun out of here...'_

"You..." Gaara growled at Naruto. Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying to get his Cursed Seal under control. But he was not doing well. "Yes, you were that guy with the flames." Sasuke knew enough that Gaara was talking to Naruto. But flames? Sasuke had no idea what he was talking about. "I tried to kill you." Once more, Naruto thought about Gaara's definition of love.

"Everyone! We're going to run!" As soon as Naruto yelled it out, Gaara took advantage of this and leapt towards Sasuke. Sakura saw this, and her eyes shrunk in fear.

"Die, Uchiha Sasuke!" As Gaara got closer, Sakura stepped in front of him with a kunai, intent on saving her Sasuke-kun. Her eyes were filled with determination.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled out.

Gaara remembered back to his childhood. He pushed those memories away. "Get out of my way!" Using one of his gigantic hands, he pushed Sakura into a tree. She fainted moments after. Those memories came flooding back, giving Naruto a brief moment to grab Sasuke and get him out of there. He set Sasuke down on a set of branches.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto turned to see the girl against the tree. "Kuso, kuso, what the hell should I do?" _'I don't want to fight this guy...'_

"Why..." Gaara's thoughts turned to Maito Gai and how he protected Lee in the preliminaries. And now, Sakura had just done the same, except this time protecting Sasuke. Painful memories came flooding back to him. He did not want to remember them. They ceased and Gaara looked up at Naruto.

'It's those eyes... cold and heartless...' 

"What's wrong? I thought you were going to run" Gaara said.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura whispered. It was loud enough for both of them to hear it though. "Naruto..."

"These two... what are they to you?" Gaara asked.

"They're my friends!" Naruto valiantly yelled. "I dare you to hurt them. I'll beat you up!"

Gaara put more pressure on Sakura, earning a scream. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to beat me up. Come!" And with that, Naruto got ticked off.

"Kuso!" He screamed. Naruto leapt toward Gaara, but his tail pushed him away with little effort. "Kuso..." Naruto shakily stood up again. _'Kuso... this is getting bad...'_ "I have to save everyone!" Suddenly, Gaara let out a maniacal laugh.

"So you fight for another. That's why you're so weak. You don't need a reason to fight. Only the winner can feel the value of his existence. Now, forget about your stupid friends, and fight only for yourself!" Gaara called out.

"Stupid friends?" Naruto began to uncontrollable shake.

"People who bring unnecessary emotions to battle should just die."

"Just keep saying what you want. I swear I'll beat the crap out of you!" Grabbing a kunai, he leapt in an attempt to strike Gaara once more. He just scoffed.

"You do not know the meaning of being truly strong."

"Shut up!" Naruto brought down the kunai. And those painful feelings came back to Gaara. Once again, Gaara used his tail to push Naruto away. Naruto once again, stood up. He could see Gaara struggling once more to push the thoughts back. Eventually, he recovered.

"What's wrong? Come! Don't care about what happens about your important friends?" Gaara put more pressure on Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! Kuso!" Naruto said. But Sasuke realized something.

'Naruto... he's not acting like himself. Did something happen between him and that guy?'

'_Either way... I have to save Sakura-chan!'_ Naruto thought to himself.

**(You could always use my techniques.)** Kyuubi suggested. Naruto shot a look at Sasuke.

'_But... I don't want him to know about it.'_

**(Look, you're not in a good spot to complain. Besides, he can't copy them anyway.)** Kyuubi reminded him.

'But... I need to keep it a secret so I can beat Sasuke...' 

**(It doesn't matter! Do you want Sakura to die?)**

'_No! And it's Sakura-_chan_!'_

**(No, it's not.)** This left Naruto a bit confused. But he did not want her to die.

"I have to save everyone," Naruto said.

"Everyone?" Gaara asked. "Don't make me laugh." Gaara looked up to reveal that his entire face had been grossly changed. "I fight only for myself." And with a vicious growl, his entire body except for his legs became enveloped in sand. He was now one step closer to his perfect form.

'_He transformed again!'_ Naruto thought.

**(Well, you can, too.)** The arm that was holding Sakura against the tree detached itself, leaving the hand to crush Sakura.

"The sand on this girl won't release itself until you defeat me. But the sand will also continue to constrict her until she dies." Gaara said.

'_Those eyes...'_ Naruto thought. Gaara got ready to attack.

"Suna Shuriken!" He launched many shurikens made of sand at Naruto. He jumped up to avoid most of them, but a few still hit him strongly, sending him flying against a tree. He sat up.

'_What sad eyes... so lonely... they remind me... of me. I probably would have turned out like him. But... I finally met people who acknowledge me. That was why I could stand the cold stares from the villagers. There were a few who acknowledge me. And that... that is all I need.'_

'That is all I need to protect my village!' 

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked. "Are you afraid? Will you fight for yourself, or for each other? Love only yourself, and fight! That is what makes a person strong! Now fight me. What happened to your spirit? Show me your powers. I will extinguish them!"

"If you don't fight me, I will kill this woman!" Naruto got angry and leapt into the air.

"Kuso! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With that, many Narutos appeared out of thin air, getting ready to fight. But Gaara simply inhaled some air.

"Fuuton: Infinite Sand Storm!" Gaara exhaled the air, this time with sand. It pushed back all of the Narutos. The real one landed on another tree branch.

'_Damn... that hurt a lot.'_ Naruto thought.

"I'll play around so you won't die yet. I can't wait to see you give up hope and abandon your 'friends' and run." Gaara taunted. Slowly, Naruto got up again, only to be greeted by another wave of sand shurikens. Once more, Naruto slowly got up.

"I'm not through yet!" Gaara sent another volley of sand shurikens at Naruto, who, once again, took the many blows. Naruto stood up once more. A strange power was flowing from him.

"This can't be..." Apparently, Gaara was surprised.

'_I won't lose to this guy, even if I die!'_ thought Naruto.

**(That's the spirit, kit! Now go kick his ass!)**

"What's wrong? You came after me, and this is what happens to you? You can't even touch me! You make me laugh."

"Shut up!" Naruto called up a swirl of blue fire to his hands. He began to charge at him. Sasuke stared at Naruto in disbelief.

'_Naruto? What are you doing?'_ Sasuke thought to himself. Gaara threw out his arms to intercept Naruto. But instead, Naruto stuck out his arms in preparation. He caught it, pushed himself onto his arm, and continued to run at him. Taking his burning hands, he grabbed Gaara's face.

"Heh. Asobi wa... owari da (play time is over)!" He released the chakra, causing explosive blasts to hit Gaara's head. Instantly, Naruto followed up with more flaming punches. Sasuke watched this, his eyes filled with awe and jealousy.

'_How can that idiot be so powerful? What did he do to get so powerful? And in just one month.'_ Sasuke thought to himself. Finally, using a burning roundhouse kick, Naruto sent Gaara into a tree. Naruto leapt back to the branch where Sasuke was.

'_Heh. I should name that move... Kamijiri (God Dust) will do.'_ Naruto thought.

**(Nice one, kit. I didn't expect you to pull something off like that.)**

After the smoke cleared, Gaara's form could be clearly seen. From the looks of it, the sand around him seemed to have melted from the heat, turning into glass. Gaara was very surprised. _'I thought that he needed a jutsu to use those flames. And I thought that he had to have transformed to use them. I've underestimated him.' _The hand tightened around Sakura. Sasuke spoke up.

"Oi, Naruto," Naruto turned to face him, "You better save Sakura no matter what. And once you do, take her and run." An image of Sasuke taking many blows from Haku came to his mind. "I know you can do it."

"Sasuke? What are you trying to do?"

"I can buy you some time." Sasuke said. Inside, he was thinking about his brother. If he could not defeat Gaara, than he could not defeat Itachi. "I've already lost everything once. I don't want to see an important friend die in front of me again." Sasuke stood up.

"An important friend?" Naruto's mind flashed to when Kakashi said that he would never allow his friends to die in front of him. "I see." Naruto turned his face to Gaara. "That's right. He's like me. I've felt the same loneliness and sadness in my life. That's why I thought he was so strong, because he fought alone and only for himself."

"Naruto..." Sasuke muttered.

"But that's not what being strong means. You can't be strong if you fight only for yourself." Naruto suddenly began to focus chakra throughout his body. A blue fire engulfed him, surprising Sasuke. But what really surprised him was the heat coming off of him. He looked toward the ground to see that the branch they were standing on slowly crinkled from the heat. "Sasuke, go take a break. Leave the rest to me, Uzumaki Naruto."

'_He's producing so much chakra! How can he do that?'_ Sasuke thought. _'Is this really Naruto?'_

"I swear I will protect everyone!" Naruto focused chakra to one of his hands. A large blue flame was present. He then charged at Gaara, attempting to maintain as much control as he could.

Naruto realized that he could not contain the fire much longer. _'A straight punch would lead to an explosion, and it would hurt me too. But if I threw out the flame like a hook...'_ Naruto did so while releasing the flames. The fire came out like a wave, completely engulfing Gaara. He was pushed off of the branch, landing and creating a hole.

Everyone who was conscious stared in surprise. How did Naruto manage to pull this off? What happened to the boy who graduated at the bottom of his class? What kind of training did he put his self through? Gaara attempted to get out of the hole.

'_This guy... who is he? He suddenly... Where is his power coming from? Me... lose to this guy?'_ "There is no way I'll lose to this guy!" Gaara yelled. Naruto watched from his branch and saw gigantic hand push its way up into the treetops. The force of it pushed him back. Naruto, who was bleeding a bit from his mouth, watched as Gaara changed into his Perfect Form.

'That... That's the monster inside of him?' Thought Naruto.

**(Heh. I was right. It's Shukaku. I don't believe that he recognizes me in you though.)**

'_I did not expect to show this form to you guys.'_ Gaara thought. He raised one of Shukaku's arms and sand swirled around Naruto.

'_Damn it! I have to get out of this...'_ Naruto brought. He brought his thumb and wiped some of the blood from his mouth. As the sand slowly wrapped around him, he did a few hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Come forth, Kyuubi!" A pillar of smoke pushed away the sand, and the summon pushed down most of the trees.

'What? Naruto can summon? What have I been doing all this time?' Sasuke thought.

**(Kit, I didn't expect you to summon me.)** Kyuubi looked at Shukaku. **(Then again... you'll need a demon to go against a demon.)**

"It's okay, just don't go around killing my friends." Naruto warned.

**(Kit, my mind is linked to you. I have the same feelings that you feel. And don't talk, just think.)**

'_Alright then, Kyuubi. We will protect everyone!'_

**(Let's go!)** With that, Kyuubi leapt towards Shukaku. The raccoon attempted to intercept the summoned demon, but the fox was too fast. The Kyuubi effectively bit through the sand demon's arm and swung its many tails to knock the Shukaku away. Naruto watched in amazement as he saw what the Kyuubi could do.

'_Remember, Sakura-chan and Sasuke are behind us. Don't crush them.'_

**(I know that.)**

"This is interesting." Gaara said. He got up from the head of the Shukaku. "This is a reward for entertaining me. I will show you the strength of the incarnation of sand."

**(That must be the medium. He has insomnia, like all of the other people that Shukaku possessed. They can't sleep because they fear that the raccoon would eat away at their personality.)**

Slowly, Gaara took his hands and formed a seal. "Forced Sleep no Jutsu!" And Gaara fell asleep, allowing the Shukaku to gain full control

"Yes!!!" the demon yelled. "I'm free!!!"

"That's... the Shukaku?"

**(Look's like he's free... for now. It's time we put him back.)**

"Eh?" The Shukaku looked at Kyuubi. "Kyuubi? What are you doing here? This is all too perfect! We're back to destruction buddies!"

"No," Kyuubi answered. "Those days are over. Do not harm Konoha. Or I will hurt you."

"Then I'll have to get you out of the way! Fuuton: Renkuudan!" The Shukaku shot his ball of air at Kyuubi, who used his tails to knock it away. Kyuubi then charged at Shukaku, who shot out a few more air bullets. Kyuubi retaliated with his own attacks.

"Suiton: Teppoudama!" He shot out his own water bullets to counter the air bullet. The result was a storm. Sasuke watched from his spot.

'_What kind of battle is this?'_ Sasuke just watched in amazement as the two demons fought. _'Naruto... have you been holding back on me?'_

**(Kit, we'll need to wake up the medium.)**

'_Hm... try using your tails. But don't kill him.'_

**(Alright.)** Kyuubi once again, ran to Shukaku, evading the air bullets. When he got close enough, he gave a light tap at Gaara with one of his tails. To Gaara, however, it was one of the strongest blows he would receive in his lifetime. He woke up. Naruto jumped onto the Shukaku, intent on giving Gaara a beating.

"Damn it!" Shukaku yelled out. "I just got out here!" Gaara was facing Naruto. Slowly, Gaara raised his hands, and a swirl of sand wrapped around Naruto once more.

"I won't let my existence be erased! I'll kill you!"

'_I'm out of chakra. Kyuubi! I need your chakra!'_

**(I won't be able to remain here then.)**

'_It's okay, you've done your part.'_ And with that, Kyuubi left the field of battle. _'Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin, Sandaime, Konohamaru, Iruka-sensei... I will protect Konoha, because you guys deserve my protection!'_ A swirl of red chakra engulfed Naruto once more, pushing the sand away. Sasuke watched as the pillar of red chakra consumed Naruto and then he watched it leave him. Though Sasuke could not see, Naruto had transformed.

'_What was that?'_ Sasuke thought.

"Gaara," Naruto reappeared behind him, catching him completely off guard. "I will not let you destroy Konoha! I will protect everyone, no matter what!" He gave him a swift chop to his neck. Slowly, the Shukaku's from crumbled into sand. The hand crushing Sakura gave way, letting her fall. Sasuke caught her and set her down. Then he leapt toward where Naruto fought Gaara.

Gaara, however, came crashing down onto the ground. Naruto landed a few feet away from him. He took a few steps to Gaara. _'Why... why is he so strong?'_ Gaara asked himself. Naruto continued to walk towards him. _'My existence will not disappear!' _Naruto just kept walking to him. Gaara's eyes opened in fear. Here was a boy, no, a man who was stronger than him. And from what he saw earlier, this man could kill him.

"Don't come near me!" Gaara yelled. Naruto was now a few feet away. Naruto stooped down to stare at Gaara in the eyes.

"The pain of being alone... is one that is too much to bare, right?" Gaara looked up in surprise. This man was not going to kill him. "I don't know why, but I understand your feelings. So much to the point that it the pain hurts. But I have found precious people who are important to me. I won't let you hurt them!"

"If you do, I'll kill you!" Naruto threatened.

"Why..." Gaara started. "Why can you do this for strangers?"

"My loneliness, that hell, they saved me from it and acknowledge my existence. They're important to me, which is why I protect them." Naruto said. Gaara looked into the sky.

'_Love, huh? So that is what it is. That is why you're so strong.'_ Gaara thought. _'Perhaps... perhaps I can find someone... to love.'_

"You can stop, Na... Naruto." Sasuke got a good look at Naruto, who was wearing different clothing. It shocked him. _'Where does he get his strength? Why is he so strong? What have I been doing wrong?' _Naruto turned to face Sasuke. "Sakura's fine now." With a smile, Naruto stopped using Kyuubi's chakra and returned to his normal state. _'What am I missing?'_

Temari and Kankurou appeared next to Gaara. They were surprised that Naruto had managed to do that to him. Naruto and Sasuke began to leave. Naruto turned to look at Gaara over his shoulder. "Remember Gaara: If you try to hurt my precious people, I will not hesitate to kill you. I'm giving you a second chance at life. Make the right choice." And with that, the two of them left the area.

_**On The Gates Of Konoha**_

A jingle of a bell was heard. Two people wearing black cloaks with red clouds were watching over Konoha. They both had sun hats. One of them had a strange thing wrapped up and a sword was held to his back by a leather strap.

"It looks like Konoha evaded complete destruction. But they took some heavy blows," the guy with the sword-thingy said. "At least it still stands. Now we can give our report."

"The village that prospered like no other is now in shambles," The other said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice. The sword carrier shot a look at him, and then looked back at Konoha.

"Still got ties here, eh, Itachi?"

"Yeah, I still do, Kisame. My brother, and Yuki."

"She knows the truth, right? Do you intend to visit her?" Kisame asked. A pleasant smile grew on Itachi's face.

"Yeah, I'm going to visit her." Kisame just shook his head.

"You still love her, don't you?"

"Of course. And I know that she loves me. Hopefully, when this Akatsuki crap is over, Yuki and I'll get married." Itachi said. Kisame sighed.

"It's a shame that that happened all those years ago." The swordsman said.

"Yeah. Let's just get the job done." Itachi said. The duo leapt down from their spot on the wall.

* * *

Itachi is here! And so is Kisame! What's up with that? Is there something deeper going on? Find out in the next chapter! 


	9. Uchiha Itachi, At Your Service

It's back from the... wherever it came from! Thank you for your reviews! You guys rock!

You know, for some reason, I was really itching to write out this chapter.

Daniel of Lorien: Eh heh... I guess that was a mistake on my part of Sasuke's cluelessness. But I don't want to fix that.

Dragon Man 180: Naruto will not have a Flaming Rasengan, but he'll still have the Rasengan. It will all be explain.

Xoni Newcomer: It may be difficult to pull off a good Itachi, but I'm going to try!

Monaki-Cheung: I know that the story follows a bit too closely to the manga, but it will slowly branch out and become an AU. And as for the title, I really like it, so sorry, but I will not change it.

Microhard: I do not plan on giving Naruto a bloodline limit.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Nine: Uchiha Itachi, At Your Service 

The Uchiha Massacre is something that everyone knows about. What is so famous about it is that there are only two survivors of the Uchiha Clan: Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke. Both are considered geniuses, though Itachi is considered the greater of the two.

It is recorded in Encyclopedia Ninja that one fateful day, Uchiha Itachi killed each and every single Sharingan user in Konoha. No one truly knew his motives as to why he killed off the great clan. Some say that he went insane for power. Others say it's because he felt that the Sharingan was too powerful, and he attempted to kill off the clan so that no one would be able to use its power.

But the most circulated reason is that he did it to test himself. By killing off each and every member of the Uchiha Clan, he would be the only true Sharingan master.

But as to why he let his brother live, no one knows. From what Sasuke said when he ran to the authorities, Itachi brother had spared him from death. From that point on, Sasuke has been bent on nothing but killing is brother.

But some people know the truth. It's out there. The truth, however, was kept a secret to prevent Konoha from crumbling upon its own self. In fact, what is recorded in the Encyclopedia Ninja about the Uchiha Massacre was meant to be wrong to hide the secret. To hide the fact that Uchiha Itachi is innocent.

Slowly, the innocent brother made his way down to the gates of Konoha. His ringing bell attached to his hat attracted the guard's attention. The guard looked up.

"Who's there?" The guard spotted Itachi. The Sharingan user walked up to the guard.

"The weasel and the shark seek to enter the house." The guard opened his eyes in realization.

"Ahh, sorry that I didn't recognize you guys. You two may want to use a Henge to keep yourselves hidden. Most of the civilians and lower-ranked ninjas don't know that you're innocent. And they don't know that you," the guard looked at Kisame, "are actually hired to look like Itachi's accomplice. And you won't be able to make your report to the Sandaime. He got killed." Itachi's face drooped down in sadness. Kisame sighed.

Many of the lower ninjas did not know that both Itachi and Kisame were only posing as missing nins. The lower ninjas did not have to. It was only known amongst the high level ninjas of Konoha. If ANBU from Konoha ever met with Itachi or Kisame, then they would fake a battle and the ANBU would come back with no casualties, but heavy injuries. It was all planned out.

The guard continued. "You may want to look for Jiraiya or Kakashi. You can give one of them your report. Oh, and Kakashi has your package." Itachi nodded and thanked the guard.

"Well," Kisame turned to Itachi, "Let's get this over with." They both transformed. Itachi was a thirty-year old man with black pants and a white shirt while Kisame turned into another thirty-year old man with a cane and a limp. The cane was actually his sword.

"Let's go find those perverts." They walked down the street. A boy dressed in orange passed them, running to the Ichiraku. They nodded and knew that he was Naruto. But they knew that it was not time to act and they continued to look for Jiraiya.

Naruto ran and saw Konohamaru staring at the Hokage monument. "Ohayo, Konohamaru." The boy turned around and smiled a toothy grin.

"Naruto-nii-san! How are you?"

"I'm okay," Naruto looked up at the Hokage Monument. The recently death of the Sandaime had brought a lot of tears to the village. But it brought the most from Konohamaru, the grandson of the Sandaime. "Thinking of your grandpa, eh?"

Konohamaru gave off a sigh. He gave a half-hearted reply. "Yeah."

"It's okay to mourn for the ones you love," Naruto answered. He looked up at the Hokages who had their faces immortalized on stone. "But you make them proud by overcoming the setback and continuing on," He turned back to face Konohamaru. "Make your old man proud." Naruto pulled out an Ichiraku food stamp and put it in Konohamaru's hand.

"A gift from me. Enjoy your meal," And with that, Naruto continued on his path to the Ichiraku, leaving a stunned Konohamaru. He rounded the corner and...

Itachi and Kisame found Jiraiya gathering data. "Ohayo, Jiraiya-sama," The toad sennin turned around to see a pair of black eyes stare back at him. He gave off a smile.

"Hello to you too, Itachi-san, Kisame-san. I feel that you are here to give me your report, right?"

"Hai," Kisame started, "The Akatsuki are after Naruto. They want the Kyuubi inside of him and will stop at nothing to get it." Jiraiya nodded while taking notes. Whether it was for his next book or about their report, they did not know.

"What about the location of the Akatsuki base?" Jiraiya asked.

Itachi answered the question. "Even if you knew where it was, you wouldn't know how to get in. You need one of these rings," Itachi flashed his ring at Jiraiya. "The ring shows you how to get in. It has a special jutsu cast on it, and only the founder of the Akatsuki knows how to cast it." Jiraiya nodded, taking more notes.

"Anything else I should know?" Jiraiya asked again.

"Hmm... I can't think of one right now. Do you have anything to tell me?"

"Perhaps... Ah yes, the council has told me to go find Tsunade and bring her back so that she may become Hokage. And I'll be taking Naruto with me. If you need to follow me, then do so. Speaking of Naruto, from what I've heard, he's developed some sort of taijutsu which turns his chakra into flames and he adds the fire to his attacks." Itachi and Kisame nodded.

"Thanks, Jiraiya-sama."

"I'll tell the council what you told me after a while."

The pair left Jiraiya to his peeping. "Kisame, go get something to eat. I need to pay a visit to Yuki. I'll meet you at the South Gate in five hours." Kisame nodded and left Itachi. Itachi slowly walked to the front of a house. Using his amazing skills as a shinobi, he entered the house.

He turned off his Henge, "Yuki... It's me." A pattering of feet was heard and Itachi was knocked-off his feet by a beautiful, raven-haired kunoichi.

"Oof!" Uzumaki Naruto had bumped into someone. They had both fallen off of their feet. He looked up. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan!" He stood up. "Here, let me help you," he held out his hand and helped pick her up. She was blushing. _'Why does she always blush like that?'_

"G-Gomen, Naruto-kun," she said, cherishing the moment where he held her hand.

"It's okay. I wasn't really looking where I was going." He dusted himself off. A thought came to mind, though he was a little reluctant to ask. Or perhaps it was anxiety. "Ne, Hinata-chan."

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" _'Oh, I hope he doesn't stop calling me Hinata-chan...'_

"D-Do you want to get some lunch with me?"

'_HELL YEAH!'_ If only her voice was like that. "I-I'd like that," Hinata whispered. Naruto inwardly gave a sigh of relief.

'_Why did I feel that tense just to ask her to lunch? It's just lunch!'_ Naruto shook off the feeling and they walked together to the Ichiraku.

'_Oh no! I don't have any food stamps for this place right now... But I want to be with Naruto-kun...'_ Hinata was caught between the two choices when they entered the shop.

"Hey, Oyaji!" Naruto called out to the chef. The old man turned and, with a genuine smile, returned the salutation.

"Do you have a food stamp for this place? You'll need one if you want to eat."

"Of course!" Naruto dug into his pocket only to find lint and emptiness. "Maybe it's in here," Naruto looked through his other pocket. Still no food stamp. "Kuso! I know I had another one!" Naruto hastily took of his jacket, revealing his black shirt underneath it. Hinata simply stared.

'_Oh my God! Naruto-kun took off his jacket right in front of me!!!'_ Hinata simply stared wide-eyed and blushing while Naruto slowly took off and searched through nook and cranny in each article of clothing. _'And he's not stopping!'_ With each piece of clothing removed from Naruto's body, Hinata's cheeks became redder and redder.

The ramen chef noticed the growing blush on her face and gave a small chuckle.

He was waving his pants in the air. "Come on! Where the hell is it?" Naruto was no longer wearing his shirt, jacket, or pants and he only had his boxers on. At that point, Hinata couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed a napkin from the counter, turned around, and attempted to stem or at least cover up the river of blood that was bubbling from her nose.

'_OH MY GOD!!! Naruto-kun is now standing there with only his boxers on! Can't look! Can't look!'_ It took Hinata all her willpower to keep herself from fainting. _'So tempting...'_ slowly, her head turned to look at him. But before Hinata could even catch a glimpse of him, she snapped her head back. _'No! I will not be a pervert!'_ Her head slowly turned, and snapped back again. _'But you know you want to...'_ a voice in her head said. _'Go on, take a look at the man you love.'_

Naruto took off his forehead protector, letting his hair fall. He ran his hand through his hair, closed his eyes, and sighed. He looked at the back of his forehead protector and found his meal ticket.

'_One look won't hurt...'_ at that point Hinata had given in to her perverted side. She turned around to see Naruto without his forehead protector and without his clothes on. His blonde hair was no longer held back and it traveled everywhere. Hinata was blushing and discovered that it her knees would no longer support her.

With the resolve to not faint, she quickly grabbed the edge of the table and sat down on the stool. _'Naruto-kun looks so sexy with his hair down... and with only boxers on.'_ She noticed that blood was once again slowly making its way down from her nose. She hastily grabbed a napkin and wiped it away.

"Oyaji! I've found it!" Naruto waved his meal ticket around in the air. Hinata was looking at him from the corner of her eye. Slowly, to both her dismay and happiness, Naruto had put on his clothes again. If he had kept them off, Hinata may have died of blood loss. But the picture of Naruto with only his boxer shorts on and with his hair unruly would be burned in her mind and only for her.

"Okay!" The old man bellowed. The chef turned to Hinata. "Now, do you have one?" Hinata shook her head.

"I-I'm not hungry," She had a dark red blush on her face. A growl emitted from her stomach went unheard by all except for Naruto. Suddenly, he felt bad for her. He had dragged her all the way here so that they could get something to eat. And now, Hinata would go hungry just so that she could be with him.

Naruto found it strange that she would want to skip a meal so that Hinata could be with him. And now, Naruto felt guilty. A plan formulated in his head. While Hinata was too absorbed in her own thoughts, Naruto told the ramen chef to lean over the counter and Naruto told him his plan. The chef was a bit surprised, and then nodded. Naruto anxiously waited for his plan to commence.

The ramen was being served. As the smell wafted its way to Hinata's nose, another growl was born from her stomach. She tried to hide it. Then, a bit anxious, Naruto began his plan. He looked at the clock. He started acting. "Crap! I forgot to do something!" Naruto turned to Hinata. "I'm sorry that I can't enjoy this meal with you, but I have to go!"

"I-It's okay." Hinata replied. _'Besides, you've given me something that I would only dream about.'_

Smiling, Naruto continued with the act. "Well, I've got to go!" And Naruto disappeared. The chef began the second part of the act.

"Oh no, now who will eat this ramen?" the chef turned to Hinata. "Say, would you like the ramen?"

"N-No, its okay."

"But it would be a shame to let the ramen go to waste." Hinata's stomach grumbled, telling her to take the offer of Naruto's ramen.

Wait. It was Naruto's ramen, and now, the chef was giving it to her. Naruto had paid for it with his own ticket, and, in a way, he gave it to her. He must have known that she was hungry. "A-Alright," she said, "I'll eat it."

The chef smiled. Knowing Naruto, he knew that he's his best customer, and that he had no parents. He sort of felt sympathetic for the boy, so he was nice to him. He had also been able to study Naruto's character.

Naruto had never left a bowl of ramen that he ordered unfinished, let alone untouched. The chef proceeded to have a talk with Hinata.

"You know," the chef started. He was no longer acting, but telling the truth. "That's the first time he ever left a bowl of ramen untouched." Hinata looked at him, a bit confused.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Well, whenever Naruto forgot something or had to be somewhere and there was a bowl of ramen in front of him, he would always finish it, and then leave. It's the first time I've ever seen him do something like this."

Though the ramen chef may not have understood, this revealed something very important to Hinata. It showed her that Naruto cared about her. She smiled.

"Itadakimasu!"

A blonde boy was running down the streets of Konoha to the Team 7 training grounds. _'Why am I so relieved to be out of that place? And what made me want to do what I did?'_ Naruto was puzzled. He cared for Hinata. She was someone who acknowledged him and thanked him instead of giving him those cold stares.

But when Naruto was around Hinata for lunch, he realized that he felt carefree and happy. It was like she washed the pain from his life away. Even if it was only for that short moment, he enjoyed that it. Naruto thought deeply about this. Who was Hinata to him that he would give up his ramen and go hungry so that she may eat? How deep did his newfound friendship with Hinata really go?

A deep chuckle echoed from the depths of his mind. **(You, my vessel, are stupid.)**

'_Hey! Why did you call me that?'_

**(You don't even realize it, do you?)**

'_What are you talking about?'_ Another chuckle came.

**(I can't tell you. But I know that you're not that stupid and that you'll find out why you did what you did this morning by yourself soon.)**

Naruto would have continued to argue if an old man did not start talking to him. "Oi, Naruto! You're going to leave for a mission with me."

"Oh... but I haven't had anything to eat yet." Naruto said.

"Don't lie to me, I saw you leave the Ichiraku five minutes ago."

"B-But I gave my ramen to Hinata-chan," At the sound of the girl's name, Jiraiya got interested.

"Oh, found yourself a girlfriend, have we?" the old man asked.

"Hey, she's not my girlfriend!" Naruto blushed, "... Well, I actually don't know. She may, she may not." Naruto sighed. "I mean, when I asked her to join me for lunch, I was a bit nervous. And then I found out that she didn't have anything to eat, so I gave her my ramen."

'_Hm... He does not know it himself. Considering that he was nervous and that he gave his ramen to her, I'd say he likes her,'_ "Well, we still need to leave now. I'll get you something on the way there." Jiraiya said. "I got most of your stuff packed" Jiraiya handed Naruto a backpack, "including your ramen. Now let's go." The pair started to walk down the path to the North Gate.

A man with raven hair sat up naked in bed only to have a naked girl drag him back down. "Yuki-chan, I'd love to stay, but I have to go."

"But you're gone for so long and only come here for about six hours. Please, stay a little longer, Itachi-kun. The only things I get from you are letters."

"Well," Itachi started, "I'll just have to keep sending letters to you, then," He gave her a kiss on the lips. "When this Akatsuki stuff is over, I promise that I'll come back to marry you."

He got up and put on his clothes, did a Henge, and poofed outside her house. Slowly, he entered the streets and started walking with a large smile. He met an old face: Hatake Kakashi.

"Hello, Itachi-san. I had a feeling you were in town. And judging from the smile," Kakashi paused, "you've just been with Yuki."

"Yes, and hello to you too, Kakashi-san," Itachi looked up and down the street. "Do you have my package?"

"Of course," Kakashi pulled out a small package wrapped in brown paper. Itachi opened it up. "You know, those books are really addictive."

Itachi was holding the book Icha Icha Paradise Vol. 2 in his hands. Giving off a sly smile, he carefully placed it into his pocket. "Thanks. Well, I got to go now. See you later."

The two parted, one to the north and the other to the south. Itachi walked to Kisame. "Did you finish what you wanted to do?" Kisame asked.

"Yes. Let's report back to the headquarters." The pair passed the south gate, turned off their Henge, and then ran at full speed to the Akatsuki lair.

_**Inside The Akastuki Lair**_

"Uchiha Itachi at your service," Itachi bowed to the leader of the group.

"Hoshigaki Kisame at your service," Kisame followed suit.

"Did you gather any information about Naruto?" a cold voice asked. Itachi then commenced about the information he had gathered.

"Good job, you two," a letter was thrown at Itachi's feet. The letter embedded itself in the floor. "You are to deliver the letter to Uzumaki Naruto. You are not to open it. We will have him join our ranks willingly."

Itachi and Kisame bowed once more. "We shall," Itachi said.

"You two are dismissed," The cold voice said. Picking up the letter, the two of them left leaving a poof of smoke. They appeared outside of the lair.

"Ready to go, Itachi?"

"Of course." The pair sped off into the distance.


	10. Bets, Jutsus, And Crazily Strong Grandma...

Argh! My updates are getting farther and farther apart! Gomen! Lo siento! Sorry! Dwei bu chee! (That's sorry in four languages for you! The last one is Mandirin Chinese.) But the story is getting closer and closer to the point of AU! So hang on for a bit longer!

I hope you guys have had a great Thanksgiving, becuase I sure did!

Dragon Man 180: No, Yuki is not the female ANBU member who was with Kakashi at the memorial stone. She is just an OC that, so far, plays little relevance.

Daniel of Lorien: Itachi has to be a bit OOC in order for him to play out this part in the story.

Andais: Though the idea of a game for reviewing sounds interesting, I do not want to do it. Reviewers should review not because of 'gaining reviewing points,' but because they want to.

Manatheron (from your review from chapter three): I swear, Naruto will get his chance to peak on Hinata.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onwards!

* * *

Chapter Ten: Bets, Jutsus, And Crazily Strong Grandmas

The Fourth Hokage: tall, handsome, unruly blonde hair, eats a lot of ramen.

One hell of a shinobi.

If you needed a shinobi to get behind enemy lines, destroy something, get through countless hordes of opposing forces, and somehow get back in one piece in time for Ramen Hour at the Ichiraku Ramen, he was the guy you called for. Encyclopedia Ninja lists him as a legendary figure. He had taken up missions that many other powerful ninjas would have deemed nothing less than suicide. Here is an excerpt from the book.

'_Perhaps one of the most amazing feats of the Yondaime Hokage was the creation of the Rasengan. It took him three years to master the ability to create a swirling sphere of doom and destruction inside his hand. And for that, he is praised as one of the greatest shinobis ever.'_

'_Without the need of hand seals, its destructiveness is on a scale that has yet to be matched. When pushed against a tree, it will dig into it without losing its shape, slowly grinding at the tree until there is a gaping hole inside.'_

'_But one of the most interesting, maybe even embarrassing, that the Yondaime Hokage was known for was his hair. It was an amazingly bright blond and, no matter how hard he tried, it was always out of line. So he decided to leave it in a spiky fashion. At one point in time, he got so angry at its poor behavior that he took a kunai and attempted to cut it. However, his hair seemed to have a mind of its own, since when the kunai made contact with the hair, the kunai snapped in half (look up hair on page 427 for more information about this incident).'_

Yes, as strange as it may seem, Yondaime had very strange hair.

And now, here was an almost exact clone of him having some trouble with his hair.

"Damn it! Stay straight!" It was the tenth time Naruto had yelled at his hair. He had a comb out and was looking over a river, using the reflection in an attempt to keep his hair tidier. Jiraiya simply looked at Naruto with a smile.

'_He is his father's son,'_ Jiraiya thought. "Oi, Naruto! Forget about your hair. It's never going to obey you or your comb. It won't even obey a kunai." By then, Naruto had taken off his forehead protector, ran his hand through it, and sighed. Staring back at the river, Naruto took note of his hair. It looked remarkably like the Fourth's hair on the Hokage Monument.

Naruto decided to leave his hair down and he put his forehead protector on his left bicep. It also felt pretty hot, so he unzipped his jacket, revealing his black shirt underneath. He turned around and walked to Jiraiya. "Come on Ero-sennin, let's go." They continued their journey to the nearest city. "Ne, Ero-sennin, when are you going to teach me that new technique?"

**(I'll teach you a new technique.)**

'_Really? When will you teach me?'_

**(I'll teach you when we reach the city.)**

'_Okay.'_

"Naruto, I will teach you one. However, I'm not sure whether you have enough chakra control to do it. So I'm going to give you a training exercise. You can make flames, right?"

"Yeah. What about them?" Naruto asked.

"I want you to make a flame in your hand. Right now. I want you to make it as large as you can while controlling it so that it doesn't blow up in your face." Jiraiya answered. _'Hopefully, this will make the third step a lot easier for Naruto.'_

"Okay!" Naruto began to make the blue flame in his hand. Slowly, it grew bigger and bigger until it was about the size of Naruto's head, unruly hair included.

"That's about as large as I can make it. Now what?"

"I want you to put in more chakra to make the fire grow and I want you to do your best to keep it from exploding." Jiraiya told him. Naruto nodded and immediately began to make the fire grow at a slow pace.

It blew up, sending Naruto back a few meters.

"Damn it!" _'There has to be a better way!'_ Naruto thought to himself. He made the fire grow to its current maximum size. He let it grow about an inch or two and then attempted to stop its growth. Its growth slowed down until it stopped. The fire was now two inches taller than his head along with his unruly hair. It also appeared to be a bit wider, too.

'_I'll keep the fire at its current size until I can control it with ease. Then, I'll let it grow again.' _Naruto held the fire in his hand for about an hour while walking. Beads of sweat were making its way down his head.

Jiraiya simply looked onwards with curiosity as his little student continued in his attempts to control the raging fire. Naruto's hair glistened with sweat. Such memories reminded him of the Fourth Hokage.

'_And now, time to let it grow…'_ Naruto increased the amount of chakra he would need to control.

Boom.

Once more, Naruto was sent flying back several meters, and this time, he was blown off the path and into the forest. An eagle swooped down and landed on Jiraiya's shoulder. Attached to the eagle's leg was a letter from Itachi and Kisame. As soon as he saw the names, Jiraiya took it from the eagle, which flew away. He opened the letter.

_Jiraiya-sama_

_The Akatsuki asks for us to deliver a letter to Naruto. At the next city, we will need you to go off to your data gathering and leave Naruto in a hotel room so that we may give him the letter._

_Itachi and Kisame_

Jiraiya folded the letter and put it away, making sure that Naruto did not see it. Naruto walked back in, holding a fire in his hands.

"Come on, Naruto. We'll be staying at that city. I suggest not using your flames to keep a low profile." Jiraiya pointed at the town that was right over the cliff, where the path ended. Naruto simply nodded and closed his hand, extinguishing the blue flame.

They entered the hotel and checked in. Jiraiya handed the keys to Naruto. "Now Naruto," Jiraiya began, "Have you done the tree climbing exercise before?" Naruto nodded. "Excellent. Now, instead of using your feet, I want you to latch onto the ceiling of the room with your hands instead."

"And you?" Naruto asked.

"I'm going to be busy gathering data."

"What? You're just going to leave me here? Come on, I want to learn that new jutsu!" Naruto complained.

"Well, in order for me to teach you, I'm going to need you to have excellent chakra control in your hands. Besides, not only will it allow you to learn this jutsu, but also make your flames more powerful," Jiraiya ruffled Naruto's hair, which earned a glare from his student. "Now be a good student and train." With that, Naruto put one foot in front of the other up the stairs to his room. He went in, dropped off his stuff, and started his exercise.

'_I bet Hinata-chan never had to do something like this…'_ Naruto jumped up and hung to the ceiling. but slowly, the ceiling began to burn.

'_Damn it! I can't train my chakra control because my chakra burns everything!'_

**(Well, you can change the chakra so that it won't. Just think cool and the chakra will be at a cooler temperature.)**

With that, Naruto thought of cool things. Ice. Refrigerator. Snow. Then he jumped up and latched onto the ceiling with his chakra. And to his happiness, there were no burns.

**(Now get down. I need to teach you that new jutsu.)**

Naruto stop sticking to the ceiling and sat down on the bed. Instantly, time slowed down again for Naruto as he saw himself come phase into existence once more. The entity did not do several hand seals, but instead thrust out its arm at Naruto. The hand was in a one-handed seal.

Suddenly, nine red-orange tails with white tips burst forth from the entity's jacket sleeve. Moments before the tails hit him, the entity once more phased out of existence.

**(Those would be The Grasping Fox Tails. They are a rather useful technique, both inside and outside of battle. You can use it to grab onto something far away, or bring something close to you. Also, you can send your flames through the tails. They can reach up to about twenty-five meters, longer if you practice.)**

**(The seal used to activate it is the one-handed seal for demon. You don't have to say the name of it, so it's a rather surprising move. Another nice thing is that you can make nine tails sprout out from your other arm, which means that you can have up to eighteen tails at your disposal. You try.)**

Naruto thrust out his right hand and formed the seal, directing it at his backpack. To his amazement, the same nine tails shot out and wrapped itself around the bag. Naruto willed them to retract and they did so, bringing the bag to him.

'_Sugoi! Hinata-chan would be impressed by this.'_ Naruto thought.

**(You can amplify how tightly your tails grab onto something. If you are handling something delicate, then you can have them hold onto it lightly. If it's a shinobi, then you can put them in a vice grip.)**

There was a knock on the door. '_Is Ero-sennin back already?' _The knocking continued.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Naruto said as he walked to the door. As he reached for the handle, a letter was slipped under the doorway. Naruto stooped down to pick it up. The envelope read as follows:

_Uzumaki Naruto,_

_Do not open this letter yet. Open it when you feel that there is no one left in this world willing to accept you._

That was all that was said on the letter. Something inside Naruto told him to do what it says. He pocketed the letter into his jacket and continued to stick to the ceiling. Jiraiya came back a moment later. "How is your training so far?"

"It's good. A few burns on the ceiling, but I'm okay." Naruto hung on the ceiling for a moment. "Ne, Ero-sennin, what's it like to be in love?"

Jiraiya was a bit taken back, but realized that he would have asked the question sooner or later. Having no family, he did not know what being in love would feel like. "Well, I prefer the single life. But I may be able to provide some answers. Chances are, when you're in love, you'd think of the person that you love. Also, you tend to feel a bit anxious when you're around them, but this special person of yours would wash away your sorrows and pains." Jiraiya sighed. "That's about all I know of love."

Naruto was in deep thought. _'Is this what it means to be in love? I don't act like that around Sakura-chan… Nor do I feel nervous around her. But Hinata-chan… I act like that around her… perhaps…'_ Naruto kept thinking.

**(_'I knew you weren't that stupid'_)** the Kyuubi chuckled.

Days passed. When they two of them were traveling from city to city, Naruto would hold a flame in his hand, doing his best to control his chakra. When they were at a hotel, he would stick to the ceiling with his hands. By now, the fire was twice the size of when he had started. By now, Jiraiya believed that Naruto had enough control to learn it. Jiraiya motioned Naruto to stop walking. The frog sennin turned to face Naruto.

"Naruto," he started, "I believe that you are now able to learn the jutsu I have for you. It is called," he gathered chakra into his hand, creating a blue sphere of destruction, "the rasengan."

"Wow!" The jutsu's beauty captivated Naruto. He cocked his head to the side, attempting to view it from all angles. He was tempted to touch it, but being a ninja, he knew better than that.

"This is the rasengan, a technique created by the Fourth Hokage. It is very destructive. Watch," Jiraiya put the rasengan against the tree. Naruto watched in awe as the sphere of destruction slowly ground its way through the tree.

"This jutsu took the fourth three years to master. Here, catch." Jiraiya threw a balloon with water at Naruto, who caught it. "Now watch." Jiraiya took out a water balloon and placed it in his hand. Quickly, the balloon expanded in multiple directions until… pop! The balloon had burst into many pieces, letting the water inside splash in all directions.

"Now I want you to do that. I suggest you not use flames for this." Naruto nodded and began his training. Slowly, Naruto began to swirl the cool chakra in his hand. The balloon slowly expanded sideways.

Naruto saw that he was doing something wrong. He stopped swirling the chakra and the balloon returned to its normal size. He scratched his head through his unruly hair. _'I'm doing something wrong…'_ He noticed that the balloon only expanded in one direction while Jiraiya's balloon had expanded in a myriad of trajectories.

Jiraiya simply watched Naruto analyzing the problem. A hint of a smile was on his face. "Come on, Naruto. You can figure it out while we walk." They continued their walk. Naruto was still analyzing the problem.

'_Mine only expanded in one direction, while Ero-sennin's expanded in multiple ones. Currently, I am only spinning my chakra in one direction. So in order for mine to pop like that, I'll need to swirl the chakra in multiple directions. But how?'_ Naruto thought. This Rasengan jutsu was taking longer than he thought.

Jiraiya saw Naruto's discontent with his failure of popping the balloon. "Don't worry, Naruto. I know that you'll figure it out sooner or later." They continued to walk. Naruto continued to contemplate about his predicament.

'_How can I spin the water in multiple directions?'_

**(Think of the water as two separate circles. Make one spin one way, and the other another way.)** The Kyuubi suggested. Naruto did so. Gathering cool chakra, he spun it in one direction. Then, he thought of separating the water and spinning the other half in another direction.

Slowly, the balloon began to expand. First, it expanded horizontally. Another limb grew out of the balloon, expanding vertically. Naruto smiled and let the balloon shrink back to its original size. _'So, just think of the water as separate circles,'_ Naruto began to separate the water.

Naruto began to swirl the chakra in different directions for each circle of water. Slowly, the balloon expanded in a potpourri of directions and… pop! The balloon burst. Jiraiya quickly turned to Naruto.

"Did you just pop your balloon?" Naruto simply nodded. "Do it again," Jiraiya commanded, handing him another water balloon. Naruto grasped it and popped it with one hand, much like how Jiraiya did it about an hour ago. _'Amazing… he already figured it out… a genius in his own right indeed,'_ He smiled. "Good job Naruto. Now, we begin the second step." He took out a rubber ball. Naruto frowned at the sight of yet another spherical object.

"What do I do with this? Do I need to pop it again?" Jiraiya simply nodded.

"The first exercise was to get the spinning down. Now this is to increase your power. It's a lot harder than the water balloon." They continued their walk.

It had been three days since Naruto had been given the task of popping the rubber ball. He finished that yesterday and was now working on the third and final task. Naruto now knew why Jiraiya had put him through the vigorous chakra control training. He was now doing his best to contain the swirling sphere of doom. Naruto was attempting to control it with one hand. He knew that he could use two hands, but that would be a liability. So now, he was just trying to contain it. Jiraiya called out to him.

"Oi, Naruto! We're going in here. Let's get something to eat," Jiraiya pointed to a bar.

"Damn it, Ero-sennin! You know I can't drink yet!" Naruto complained.

"Then you don't have to!"

"But why do we have to go in there, Ero-sennin?"

"Because they're excellent places to gather information. Now shut up and let's go." They entered the bar. Naruto looked around while Jiraiya was only staring at a seemingly young woman who was staring back.

"TSUNADE!!!" Jiraiya exclaimed, pointing at the woman.

"JIRAIYA!!! Why are you here?" The sennin asked.

"Finally, we found you. I was getting tired of just walking around and finding nothing." Naruto, however, was, in the least, surprised.

'_That's the woman we're looking for? Is she really fifty?'_

**(Believe it or not, she is.)**

'_Man… what a swindler…'_ The group began eating and drinking. After eating a bit, Tsunade spoke up.

"What a day, seeing old faces everywhere." Jiraiya went ahead and tipped her some more sake.

"Orochimaru, right?" Jiraiya said. "What happened?" Tsunade stole a look at Shizune and gave Jiraiya her answer.

"Nothing much, we just said hello," She lied. Taking out a deck of cards, she began to shuffle them.

'_So this is the woman that can cure any kind of wound? Is that true?'_

**(Very true.)**

'_I'll take your word for it.'_

Tsunade put the deck of cards on the table. Jiraiya took it and cut the deck, then returned it to Tsunade. She dealt a hand to Jiraiya and herself. "What do you want?"

"I'll get to the point," Jiraiya said. "Tsunade, the village has requested that you become the Gondaime Hokage." Naruto choked on his food for a moment, then quickly swallowed.

'_Gondaime Hokage? That's a bit too sudden, isn't it? What's going on here?'_

"Have you heard about the third?" the old man asked.

"Killed by Orochimaru, right? He told me himself," the sennin said.

'_Orochimaru killed him? Damn it!'_ Naruto thought to himself. 'That bastard!' "Orochimaru killed the Third? Who is Orochimaru?" Naruto demanded to know the answer.

"He's like us two, another Sannin," the answer shocked Naruto.

'_Like these two? He's got to be powerful…'_

"But, the Sannin are Konoha shinobis, right? So why is he against us?" Naruto asked.

"Who's this loud kid?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya gave off a chuckle. "Uzumaki Naruto."

'_This is the Nine-Tails kid?' _Tsunade thought.

"Chotto matte! You still haven't answered my question! Who is Orochimaru? He's one of you guys, right? So who the hell is he, and why aren't you doing anything to stop him? And why does she become the Fifth Hokage?" the words railed out from Naruto's mouth.

"Naruto, be quiet for a moment," Jiraiya said. Naruto complied and sat down. "I'll say it one more time. Konoha has requested that you become the Fifth Hokage. What's your answer? Will you take it?"

Tsunade thought for a moment. "I refuse." Jiraiya gave off a smile.

"I know that line," Was all Jiraiya said.

"Damn it, Ero-sennin! You told me that we were going on a mission! What kind of mission is this?" Naruto said. "You tell me that we came all the way here to ask her to become Hokage. And then she refuses!"

"Naruto, Tsunade is the only one capable of becoming Hokage as of now. Her combat and medical skills are unrivaled. She is also the granddaughter of the First Hokage. With her abilities, she is more suited to become Hokage. This decision was made by the advisers of Konoha." Jiraiya informed Naruto. "Being a genin, you have no say in this." Tsunade gave off a scoff.

"Jiraiya, this student seems even ruder, stupider, and uglier than your last one." Tsunade commented. Naruto locked eyes with her.

"What did you say?"

Jiraiya smiled and looked at Naruto. "It's tough to beat the Fourth in those fields. His ninja abilities were unheard of in history. He was talented, smart, and popular. Plus, he was handsome like me."

"But even he died young," Tsunade retorted. "He threw his life away for the village. Only fools bet their lives so easily. Naruto was ticked. The chopsticks he was holding onto snapped in half.

'_An idiot, was he?'_ Naruto thought to himself. Kyuubi stayed silent.

"My father and the Second wanted to end the war. But they lost their lives before they could do that." Tsunade answered.

"You've changed, Tsunade. I don't know what you're thinking, but you put it in words." Jiraiya said.

"Heh. I'm in my fifties, though I don't look like it. Time changes people. It's the same with Sarutobi-sensei. If an old man tries to act brave, it's obvious that he'll die." Tsunade threw down her cards. "This Hokage stuff is a piece of crap. Only an idiot becomes one."

That was the last straw.

Naruto leapt up from his seat in an attempt to punch Tsunade. But Jiraiya held him back. "Stop, Naruto. This is a bar." Naruto calmed down a bit after Jiraiya set him down.

"Whoever makes fun of the Fourth or the old man, I don't care if it's a girl, I'll beat the crap out of them!" A short pause ensued. Tsunade stood up and put her foot on the table.

"You've got guts to say that to me. Let's take this outside." Tsunade and the rest of the group left the bar. They took opposite sides.

"Don't underestimate this kid, Tsunade." Jiraiya warned.

"Even if I look like this, I am one of the Sannins. There's no reason for me to get serious with a genin." She stuck out her hand with her index finger raised. "One finger is all I need. Come on, little boy."

"Don't screw around with me!" Naruto charged forward and gave out a right hook. She leaned back. _'Perfect.'_ Naruto released the chakra, causing a blue line of fire to form in the air, giving a small burn to Tsunade's face. She was surprised at the sudden outburst of flames.

"Nani? But you missed me! What the hell was that?" Tsunade blurted out. She looked towards Jiraiya, who wore a smile.

"I told you, Tsunade."

"Don't screw around with me," Naruto wore a smirk. He stuck out his hand and engulfed it with flames twice the size of his head, hair included. Tsunade looked on as moved his hand in an arc towards her. A gigantic wave of flame headed straight towards her. She jumped to avoid the flames.

'_Wrong move.'_ Naruto put his left hand into the one-handed demon seal. He thrust it out. Nine tails sped out of his arm and grabbed onto Tsunade's leg. He retracted the tails. _'It may not be perfect, but it's worth a shot,'_ in his right hand, he began to swirl chakra.

'_Shit! When did Naruto learn to do that tail thing?'_ Jiraiya thought. He had never seen Naruto perform that before.

'_Shit! Is that the rasengan? I got to get out of this.'_ Tsunade took her hand, clenched in a fist, and hit Naruto in the gut with as little force as possible. She did not want to kill him. Naruto flew back, releasing the tails holding onto Tsunade. The rasengan met with the floor and exploded, creating a small crater. Tsunade landed on her feet and looked towards Jiraiya, who was currently sporting a surprised look. She turned back to Naruto. He smirked.

"So much for using one finger," he said to her.

"Why do you care so much about Hokage?"

"Unlike you," Naruto started, "I'm going to become the Hokage. It is my dream." Tsunade turned to Jiraiya.

"Where did he learn that tail thing? And what about the rasengan?" She said.

"I taught him the rasengan," Jiraiya answered, "but I have no idea about that tail thing."

"Only you and the Fourth can use that technique. Why are you teaching him something he can't master? Don't give him foolish ideas. That's why he daydreams about being Hokage."

"Heh. You idiot. I can master this move in three days!" Naruto called out.

"Alright then," Tsunade put on a sly smile, "let's make a bet. If you can master this move in a week, then you get this necklace and I acknowledge the fact that you can become the Hokage." Her apprentice called out in opposition but Naruto scoffed at the deal.

"I don't need a necklace." Naruto answered.

"Don't say that. That necklace is worth a lot of money. It belonged to the First Hokage." Jiraiya told him. Naruto sighed.

"Fine. If you wish to part with it, then it's a part of the bet."

"Excellent. If you can't master it, then I get too keep your wallet." Tsunade took out Gama-chan, Naruto's wallet. Shizune ran up to Tsunade. "Let's go, Shizune." The both of them left the area.

_**Naruto and Jiraiya's Hotel Room**_

A knock was heard on the door. _'Who's here at this hour?'_ The person knocked again. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He reached for the door, but the person who knocked opened it.

"Sorry to disturb you at this hour but I need to talk to you about Tsunade." Shizune said. Naruto beckoned her to come in. And they talked.

"Ever since that day, Tsunade has lived a confused life," Shizune finished. Naruto stood there for a moment. Then he walked past her to the door. "Naruto-kun?" He turned back to her.

"I'm going to go train."

_**One Week Later**_

'_So warm… cozy… but… must train…'_ Naruto wearily attempted to get up. But he gave up and decided to hug the blankets closer to him. _'These blankets are soooooo soft…'_ He felt a strange weight on him. Confused, Naruto opened his eyes.

Only to get a pair of pale lavender ones stare back at him. "Huh? What the-," He noticed that it was not a blanket on him, but a person "Hinata-chan?" Hyuuga Hinata was somehow in his bed, wearing her everyday clothes. "What's going on?" Hinata smiled and straddled him, a faint blush on her cheeks. She leaned in. Slowly, Hinata got closer… and closer… and closer… Their lips were separated by mere centimeters. His heart beat fast and beads of sweat made war with his hair. His face turned a shade of red.

Naruto woke up. He looked around. "What the hell?" He asked out loud. He noticed that he was in a hotel room. The last thing he remembered before he slept was a tree with many scars made by an imperfect rasengan. _'What's going on? Why did I dream about Hinata-chan kissing me?' _He got out of bed to see Shizune, Tsunade's attendant, on the ground. "Hey… wake up!"

Her eyes gradually opened up. "Naruto-kun?" Her eyes snapped open. "What time, no, what day is it?"

"Monday, why?" Naruto asked. Shizune was taken back. She rose to a sitting position.

"You're okay after staying in bed for only one day? You should have been asleep for two days." Shizune asked.

"Yeah, well, I recover from most of my injuries in just one day. Ever since I was young," Naruto answered for her. "But more importantly… where's baachan? Today's the deadline for the bet."

"Well, we don't have time to stay here." Shizune said, running towards the window. Naruto instantly ran after her.

"Wait!" Shizune opened the window to be greeted by a kunai. Naruto reached out and grabbed it. He brought the kunai into an attacking position and faced the thrower. "Ero-sennin?"

"Tsunade put something in my sake. I can't mold chakra, my body's numb, and I can't throw kunais." Jiraiya said. "I didn't expect her to poison me. Come on! We have to find her!" Jiraiya leapt, but Naruto called out to him.

"Ero-sennin, let me help you find her," Naruto took a whiff of the air. "Follow me!" He leapt off in the direction of Tsunade's scent. While in their travels, a pillar of clouds appeared off in the distance.

"That has to be her! Come on, let's pick up the pace!" Naruto yelled. They quickly prepared themselves for battle. Naruto once more sniffed the air. "They're moving away to somewhere else." They continued to follow Naruto. Eventually, they were led to a battlefield where numerous craters were formed.

"This is it, team! It's time we help out the Gondaime Hokage!" They charged in and threw a smoke ball.


	11. Just Some Cute Little Genin

Sorry! I decided to finish my other Naruto fic, Her Demon, His Angel, before updating this one. Also, it took me a while on how I would have this chapter turn out. But it's done and that's what matters! And it's extra long, eleven pages! Nowto respond to Manatheron.

Manatheron: I already considered that Naruto would get another kind of Taijutsu before I even made this story. However, I think I will use your name for it instead of mine. And I promise to you that Naruto WILL get a peak at Hinata. Soon, very soon. Not by the next chapter, but soon.

A/N: Also, for some reason, you won't findnormallythrough thesearch engine. I don't know why, but you'll have to find it bysearching my author penname and clicking the link leading to my information page. There you can find this story.

A/N: Also, I most likely will not be updating this fic until after finals, which my last final is on next Thursday the 16th of December. High School isa pain.

A/N: One more note. This fic will be entering the R-rated section soon because I'm going to put in a NaruHina lemon. I'll warn you before I do so. But, by the way I plan to end that chapter, you'll probably figure out when.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!!!

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Chapter Eleven: Just Some Cute Little Genin

Many people have known that Encyclopedia Ninja is a wonderful resource to find information on your favorite topics. It also includes topics rarely thought about, including the everyday shuriken and simple training logs. In fact, it would appear that the only job of Encyclopedia Ninja is to be what it is called, an encyclopedia.

Few, however, know of its many other features. Of course, there are a few not-so-well-known features, like using the book as a bludgeon to ward off thieves. Or you could use it to help you look smart.

However, its main secondary use is its job as a dictionary. In it, on page 948, the topic 'shinobi' is in print. A shinobi is defined as the following things.

'_Shinobi – Noun – 1. A ninja. 2. A tool used for war. 3. A spy, normally a ninja.'_

The term shinobi, as shown here, three different definitions. Of course, one can be a spy, but not a ninja. Thus, they are not a shinobi.

However, when a shinobi plays the role of a spy, things can get dangerous. They can gain inside information about things, steal technology from other villages, and most importantly, they can kill you when you least expect it.

And as of right now, Kabuto, the shinobi with the role of a deadly spy of the Village of Sound, was having a little chat with the Yondaime look alike.

"Even if you put on that scary face, you're just a cute genin who's out of place," Kabuto said.

'_Call me cute, will you? I'll show you cute!'_ Naruto began to shake at the insult that Kabuto had thrown at him.

**(Calm yourself, kit. It would be useless if you died right here.)** Naruto attempted to keep himself calm.

"It's true that we expected something from the monster inside of you, but with Legendary Sennins here, you're not worth my time right now. You're just small and insignificant right now. If you get in the way, I'll kill you." Kabuto gave off a wicked smile.

"Call me cute, will you? I'll show you cute!" Naruto viciously charged at Kabuto with the intent of testing him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" instantly, three Narutos were born into existence. Going in a tight line formation, one by one they dashed at Kabuto. _'We'll get his right side. He can't seem to use that hand.'_

The group of Narutos split their formation, attacking from different angles. They each took out kunais. The first one dived at Kabuto, who pushed him out of the way and watched it disappear. He punched a second one, which disappeared, while a third one grabbed onto his left arm. Seeing his open spot, Naruto went in from the right side.

'_Shimatta! He's going in from the right side!'_ Kabuto flung out his right arm and used his blood to blind Naruto. Then, using the Naruto on his left arm, he threw it at the blinded Naruto. They collided and the last one poofed out of existence, leaving the real Naruto. He slid into Shizune's arms.

"Arigato, Shizune-san." _'Damn it! What should I do, Kyuubi? He took out my bunshins without breaking a sweat!'_ Naruto thought.

**(Well, for starters, you should not transform. It is best to keep your trump cards until the very end. Besides, what if that sick Orochimaru suddenly decides to take your body because of your flames?)** Naruto agreed. Though it would be difficult, he would rather have a difficult time than have an S-rank criminal on him. **(Besides, you've already got an advantage here. He doesn't know what you can pull off, and he doesn't know where you truly are.)**

'_I know, Kyuubi, I know. But do you have any ideas on how to defeat them?'_

**(Just watch and see what happens. When the time is right, enter the battle.)**

Kabuto jumped back to where Orochimaru was. He ate a blood-replenishing pill and turned to his master. "Orochimaru-sama, please remove the band-aids on your left arm." Orochimaru gave off a dark smile and promptly removed the band-aids with his teeth, letting it drop to the ground.

"So, Orochimaru, you're going to fight after all. Shizune," Shizune turned to face Jiraiya, "you go fight the kid with the glasses."

'_So,'_ Naruto thought, _'Kabuto's a spy… that has to be why he was fighting Tsunade-baachan.'_

**(Hey, it thinks. What a miracle.)**

'_Shut up!'_

"Hai!" Shizune said, wrapping Tsunade's jacket around her. Naruto was left to stand there.

"I'll take care of Orochimaru," Jiraiya said.

"Then what about me?" Naruto asked.

"You are to guard Tsunade and her pig."

"What? But I want to fight too!"

"No! Even the guy with the glasses tells you not to fight! I'm sorry, but you're at a lower level. Orochimaru is a Sannin, like me. He also killed the Sandaime. You'll need someone at his level to fight him. And since Tsunade is unable to fight, that job rests with me," Jiraiya chided Naruto for his immaturity. "Plus, that kid with the glasses is as strong as Kakashi."

"Fine then," Naruto answered.

"And don't bother to use your Kage Bunshin. They won't be of any use in this battle. You'll just waste chakra." Jiraiya turned to face Orochimaru and his subordinate. "Now, let's begin!"

Kabuto took some blood from his right wrist and smeared it on Orochimaru's tattoo. He quickly did some hand seals. Jiraiya bit his thumb and started the seals also. Kabuto slammed his hands to the ground, "Kuchiyose no mmph!" Before he could finish the incantation, five tails had sprouted from Naruto's sleeve. Four of them grabbed his limbs while the fifth covered his mouth. The tails threw Kabuto at a rock, which gave off a crack. Meanwhile, Jiraiya pushed his palm to the ground.

"Good job, Naruto. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" the old man yelled. A poof of smoke greeted him, along with a small frog. Jiraiya cursed.

"Heh. Ero-sennin, it looks like your worse off than me," Naruto commented. Meanwhile, Kabuto restarted the hand seals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Two large snakes appeared out of thin air with Kabuto and Orochimaru on top.

**(Send your bunshin to its doom.)** Naruto nodded. His bunshin above ground charged with a rasengan in its hand. **(Now its time for a new jutsu. You should use it here in this battle.)**

"No! Naruto, get back here!" It was too late. One of the snakes had already lunged forward and captured Naruto in its mouth. After it closed, the bunshin disappeared. _'Damn it… Naruto… what were you thinking?'_ Meanwhile, the seemingly real Naruto had abandoned his underground hideout and was running up the snake that Kabuto was on.

"It appears that your student was foolish and weak, Jiraiya," Orochimaru commented. "He even looks like the Fourth. Perhaps you were raising him to be a replica of him? Just as powerful?" the snake sennin taunted. Jiraiya did not answer him.

Naruto wasn't that far from Kabuto now. **(Now kit!)** Naruto began to gather fiery chakra in his right hand. He dragged it along the back of the snake, the fire burning and killing the snake. The summon started to collapse, causing Orochimaru to look back. Kabuto looked behind him to see nine tails grasp his body. Naruto pulled him in with his left hand and began to swirl the chakra in his right.

"Call me cute, will you? I'll show you cute!" Naruto, in anger, brought up his perfect rasengan in his right hand and pushed it into Kabuto's stomach. The white-haired nin opened his eyes in shock as the rasengan enveloped him and pushed him into a rock somewhere on the ground.

Orochimaru looked in surprise. A small grin was plastered onto his face. _'Perhaps I should have killed this child in the forest,'_ the snake man thought. Tsunade watched as the rasengan continued to grind away at Kabuto's body.

'_I've just lost another bet.'_ Yet Tsunade couldn't have felt better.

'_I guess that necklace belongs to me now,'_ Naruto jumped down from the snake's head and ran to where Kabuto was holding himself up against the rock, the rasengan having done its job. Kabuto was currently repairing himself. "I'm not done with you yet!"

'_How the hell did he heal himself? I've got to keep hitting him with my attacks.' _Naruto gathered chakra, this time with fire. The fire was the size of Naruto's upper body. He ran at Kabuto and grabbed his chest, slammed him into the ground, and dragged him through dirt and stone, the chakra burning Kabuto as he was dragged through multiple stones..

"Still think I'm cute now?" Naruto yelled. Kabuto did his best to retaliate. He could not reach Naruto's heart, so he went for cutting his lungs instead. Instantly, Naruto lost control of the flames, causing them to explode and send both of them away. Tsunade watched as Naruto flew and landed at her feet. Naruto coughed up some blood and lost consciousness. Kabuto then began to heal himself again.

Tsunade flinched, but knew that she had to heal him. She went over to him, and stopped flinching. She took off her necklace and was about to give it to him. However, Naruto surprised her by holding her hand, preventing her from giving him the necklace. "Don't give it to me yet. Wait until after the fight."

Seeing how powerful Naruto really was, Orochimaru decided to go and kill him. _'He'll cause trouble for me later if the Akatsuki gets their hands on him.'_ With that, Orochimaru leapt off his snake and summoned Kusanagi with the intent to kill Naruto.

"Die!" the snake man yelled, slashing his sword. However, Tsunade leapt in the way and took the hit. The real Naruto, who was watching through his clone's eyes that had recently gained consciousness, watched Tsunade take slice after slice from Orochimaru's sword.

'_Thank you, baachan,'_ the real Naruto thought to himself.

"But… that was not really necessary," Naruto's clone said. Tsunade looked at Naruto to see him vanish in a poof of smoke.

"Nani? If that was a clone, then how could it take those hits to the lungs and still exist? Where's the real Naruto?" Tsunade said out loud. "But that doesn't matter right now," she turned to face Orochimaru. She bit her thumb and started some hand seals. Orochimaru hopped to his assistant, who brushed his blood on his tattoo and did the same hand seals. Jiraiya had also started his own set.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" the three Sannins yelled. Their summons then appeared in the battlefield with their wielders on top of them. However, unbeknownst to them, a fourth voice, muffled by the ground, said something.

'_It's time to reveal myself,'_ "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" with that, Naruto bit his thumb, and summoned the Kyuubi to battle.

Kyuubi rose out from the dirt underneath, flinging dust everywhere. His nine tails flailed through the air, giving it a threatening aura. It's size was larger than Gamabunta and, if you included the tails, was longer than Manda. "Orochimaru," Naruto began with a smile on his face, "You may be able to take on the two other Sannins, but can you tackle me along with it?" Orochimaru sneered in disgust.

'_I really should have killed him back there…'_ "Kabuto, we're going to leave," the snake user said. His assistant nodded.

"Oh, and you just summoned me here for nothing?" Manda, Orochimaru's summon, asked.

"We cannot hold our position in this kind of battle. Had it just been the two other Sannins, we would have been fine. But now that the Kyuubi brat has summoned a nine-tailed fox, we cannot defeat them. We have to go," Orochimaru said.

"Fine, but be ready to prepare a lot of sacrifices." With that, Manda disappeared, along with Orochimaru and Kabuto.

The three other summons disappeared, leaving two Sannins, a genin, and an attendant. "Naruto," Jiraiya said, "what kind of bunshin did you use? It's not Kage Bunshin."

Naruto gave off a smile. "It's a Timed Bunshin no Jutsu. Basically, I make a bunshin that lasts for a set amount of time, depending on how much chakra I use. Each timed bunshin can do what I do and they can take damage, bleed, and even die before disappearing. That one lasted about five minutes. I'm not too sure how long I can make one last yet."

"Where did you learn it?" Tsunade asked.

"Eh… I made it… Now lets go back to Konoha," Naruto turned around and began to leave in an attempt to keep them from asking more questions.

**(Sure, take all the credit.)**

'_Hey! They can't know about you teaching me. Think about the fiasco it would make!'_ Naruto argued. The fox demon stayed silent.

_**On The Path To Konoha**_

The group of five was taking their time walking back to Konoha. Naruto was looking at the necklace Tsunade gave him in an attempt to stop thinking about what he was thinking. He had rightfully earned it. It took up a lot of hard work, but he earned it.

Naruto took a look at each person in the group. They each had their own thoughts going though their heads. However, person had the topic of relationships glued onto his mind. And try as he might, he could not stop thinking it.

Naruto had that dream again. It was that dream where he 'woke up' with Hinata on top of him, who later straddled him and leant in for a kiss. There was a slight difference in it. However, Naruto was still perplexed about it. Inside his dream, Hinata still had her everyday clothes on, minus one thing.

She was not wearing her sweater.

Naruto had only seen what was underneath the sweater once, after her fight with Neji in the Chuunin Preliminaries, and there was a black fishnet shirt underneath. Everything else was the same. The actions, the blushing, the rapid beating of his heart, it was all there. Nothing was changed except for the fact that she had one less piece of clothing. What did it all mean? Would she continue to lose her clothes?

Naruto did not know how to respond to that thought.

Naruto looked towards Jiraiya. He couldn't offer much help in answering his questions about love other than what he already contributed. He turned to Tsunade. Perhaps he could ask her.

"Ne, Tsunade-baachan," Naruto said. The woman turned to face him. "How do you know when you're in love?"

"Why do you ask that? Is there some girl that thinks you're cute?" Naruto showed no emotion. Tsunade turned to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, did he ask you this question too?" Ero-sennin nodded. "Hmm…" she turned back to Naruto and thought back to her times with Dan. "Well, from my experience, you'll probably be a bit nervous around them. And you might blush when you're around them too."

The nervousness was something Naruto experienced, but he could not remember when blushed around Hinata. However, he was sure that he blushed when he was next to her at some point. But where and when did he blush?

"Oh, and you might dream about them," Tsunade added. Naruto coughed, blushed, and almost tripped. That was it. That was the time when he blushed around Hinata. It was in his dreams. "I'm guessing that all three of these things happen around some girl? Take it from me, gaki. You're in love." Tsunade said. She turned to Jiraiya. "Do you know who it is?"

Jiraiya brought his hand up to his chin. "Hmm… I remember Naruto giving her his entire bowl of ramen, which, from what I've heard, is something he has never done before. Her name was Hinata. I think that she's Hyuuga Hiashi's daughter," At the sound of her name, Naruto tensed up a bit. This show of body language did not go unnoticed by Jiraiya. "Yup, that's her name, Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto decided to take her advice. _'So… I'm in love with Hinata-chan…'_

**(And the truth dawns upon the foolish idiot.)**

'_Shut up!'_

_**Back At Konoha**_

Everyone welcomed the return of Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sennin. She quickly took the position of Hokage and took care of the necessary things. Sasuke, however, only saw the return of Naruto. After the ceremony, he set off to find him. He took off towards the Ichiraku and his gamble paid off. He was eating with Sakura. But he did not seem his usual snappy self. Wanting to observe the scene, he lay in hiding. However, unbeknownst to him, a Hinata was also hiding to see what Naruto was doing. She was rather suspicious that he would want to talk with Sakura right after the ceremony.

'_It's time I tell her why I asked Sakura to join me,'_ Naruto thought. He turned to Sakura. "Ne, Sakura-chan," She turned around, giving him her attention. "You remember all those times when I pestered you for a date?"

"Yeah. Why do you bring that up?"

"Well, I just want to apologize for all those times I annoyed you. It's just that, since I never had parents, I never really knew what love was like." Hinata was shocked to hear this from Naruto. She felt bad that she had to resort to eavesdropping on him, but she was suspicious that he would ask Sakura to join him for some ramen and not her. "So I guess I just went after what I thought was love. And now that I know what it really is, I just wanted to apologize."

'_YES!!! He's all mine!'_ Hinata thought.

"Oh… It's okay, Naruto. Apology accepted," Sakura stood up. "Well, I've got to go now." Sasuke decided it was time to intervene.

"Oi, Naruto!" he yelled to the Yondaime clone, which turned around to greet the voice. Sakura turned around.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke leapt out and landed in front of him. "Fight me."

Naruto looked around and spotted Hinata, who immediately hid from his view by shifting behind a building corner. He was sure that she was blushing. He turned back to Sasuke. "No." He walked past Sasuke towards where Hinata was. Sasuke turned around.

"Fight me, damn it! You've been begging for a fight, and here's your chance! So take it!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "I have much more important things to take care of than fighting you. Life doesn't revolve around you. I'm not sure if you know this, but just to inform you;" Naruto began to walk away, "until you've given up this greater-than-thou mindset, you're not worth my time." Sakura watched as Naruto began to walk away.

"To me…" Naruto thought back to his fight with Kabuto. "You're just some cute little genin who doesn't know his place."

Sasuke immediately lost his cool. He activated his Sharingan and charged up his Chidori.

'_So I'm not worth your time? I'll get you for that! You think you're better than me? Prove it!'_ Sasuke charged forward.

"Sasuke-kun! Yamete!" Sasuke, however, charged at Naruto. The Yondaime clone turned around and let his Grasping Tails wrap around Sasuke, holding him in a tight bind. Naruto turned to the vender next to him.

"Hey, is this your rope?" the vender shook his head. Naruto stuck out his other hand and let his other set of Grasping Tails to grab the rope. Hinata watched in awe as the boy of her dreams tied Sasuke up high on a lamppost. Naruto then walked over to her. She gave off a small blush.

"Actually, let me rephrase what I said," Naruto turned to Sasuke. "You're just some cute and WEAK little genin who thinks of only himself." Naruto emphasized the word 'weak.'

"Let's get out of here," he said, giving off a small smile. He offered her his hand. Hinata took it, and the pair walked away, leaving a struggling Sasuke and a confused and slightly enraged Sakura. However, there was another eye in the street. Sasuke yelled out to him.

"Hey! You can't call me weak! You're weak too!"

Naruto turned around for a moment. "Well, then who's that genin tied up to a lamppost?"

"Yeah well…" Sasuke thought for a moment. "You're a genin too!"

"Well, unlike you, that's going to change soon," Naruto turned his back once more to Sasuke.

'_How dare he! He can't call me weak! He's dead last! He can't humiliate me like this!'_ Sasuke struggled against the ropes, but discovered that they were tightly bound against him. _'How was he able to do that to me? And why can't I copy it? Am I… really that weak?'_

Kakashi stood in a corner. _'I'm really going to have to tell Sasuke about avenging his brother.'_ The seemingly one-eyed jounin took out his favorite book. _'But Naruto has saved me the trouble of restraining him. He's gotten a lot stronger in just those few days that he was gone…'_

Naruto decided to go take Hinata to the park. He was holding hands with her. And he was sure that, even though he couldn't see himself, he was blushing. His eyes trailed up her graceful arm to her face. _'My god… she's beautiful…'_ Her stride was graceful. The way her hair floated in the wind was graceful. Her delicate hands, which were holding his, were graceful. She was like a goddess, gracing the earth with her presence. Naruto gave off a smile and turned his eyes back onto the path.

A moment later, Hinata turned to see her hand in Naruto's. _'Oh my god… I can't believe this is happening! I'm actually holding Naruto-kun's hand! And he actually offered it to me!'_ Hinata found a way to blush even more than her current state. She inched closer to him. Naruto noticed the distance between them grow a bit shorter. He, in turn, took a step closer to her so that their hands were swaying at their hips. They both blushed at this little bit of movement.

And they just walked the day away until it was almost sundown. By then, they were sitting on a park bench. Their hands were still holding each other's. They just sat there, enjoying each other's touch. Naruto turned to Hinata.

"Hinata-chan," she turned around to face him. "I… I think you're cute." She immediately blushed at the compliment. She turned aside to hide the blush a bit, though not enough to hide her smile.

'_I've got to do it…'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'It's the perfect opportunity.'_

"Ne, Hinata-chan."

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Hinata turned to Naruto once more.

Immediately, her pale lavender eyes pulled out the will of Naruto to tell her. "Um… nothing…" Naruto turned away from her, a blush dancing playfully on his whiskered cheeks. Hinata simply found this rather strange.

'_Since when was Naruto this shy?'_ Hinata thought. "Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?"

"No! Nothing's wrong!" Naruto quickly turned back to her. His free hand was scratching the back of his head.

"W-Well, you're acting strangely," Hinata scooted a bit closer to Naruto and put her other hand on his lap. Attempting to hide her blush, she continued. "Y-You can tell me anything, Naruto-kun."

The sudden contact caused Naruto's back to go erect. But that wasn't the only thing that went erect at that moment. He instantly blushed and put his free arm across his lap to hide his slowly growing bulge. It's not that it was the first time he ever got an erection. It was, however, the first time he went erect when Hinata touched him. Hinata would have continued to ask him until he would answer her. However, she was interrupted.

"Hinata-sama, it is time that you return home," Neji said. He looked a little peeved at the fact that she was around hanging Naruto. But he didn't really mind too much. As long as he didn't hurt her, he wouldn't hurt him. Hinata stood up to leave.

"W-Well, Naruto-kun, I enjoyed this date. P-Perhaps we could go on one again," With that, Hinata left. Naruto waved a goodbye to her, which she returned, and went off in the direction of his apartment.

When he got there, Naruto swore as loud as he could. _'How am I going to tell Hinata-chan that I love her? It's just so… so… so damn troublesome! You'd think that it would be so easy just to say three damn words!'_ Then, as fast as he could, he ate some ramen, took a shower, brushed his teeth and went to bed in his pajamas, strange nightcap and all.

During each of his activities, he thought of only Hinata and how she willingly held his hand.

And how she touched him on the lap, too. Oh, and the erection.


	12. Portal To The Dark Side

Eh... I guessI was lying about not updating till after finals. Either way, it's up, and that's what matters. Now, to respond to some fellow reviewers.

Manatheron: I guess I didn't word myself properly. There won't be a lemon until chapter twenty...ish. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea. Besides, the two of them won't be having sex at thirteen. That's way too early for them. Besides, Naruto still has to get a peak at Hinata.

Dragon Man 180 and Skuld's Sentaro2: Yeah, I noticed how I did not portray their reactions very well. Perhaps I may fix it one day.

nonengel: I'll try to fix that problem.

A/N: I've been thinking of having more than one lemon on this fic. However, it'll be after the NaruHina one. I'm not sure who's going to sleep with who yet, but they'll be het pairings.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Portal To The Fallen Side

History. Some people hate it while some people love it.

Encyclopedia Ninja simply records it.

In history, there have been many betrayals. Like how Orochimaru left Konoha in pursuit of his dream of learning all of the world's jutsus.

Or how Uchiha Sasuke is now heading towards Orochimaru to achieve his dream of killing his brother, Uchiha Itachi. And how a team of five Leaf shinobis, one chuunin and four genin, will chase after him.

Whatever happens, the writers of Encyclopedia Ninja will record it.

But there is no need to record what hasn't happened yet.

Besides, there are more dreams than just those two.

And here is the Yondaime clone's dream, to become the Hokage, plus another one.

Naruto was beneath. Hinata was on top. They were both looking into each other's eyes, panting. Bits of sweat found their way down their faces. Naruto was caught in her mesmerizing eyes and did not have the will to look down. Hinata was lying down on Naruto, putting her weight on top of his. But she didn't seem to weigh very much. Both of them were blushing a shade of crimson never before seen in Konoha.

From what he could feel, they either had very little clothes on. Or they were wearing nothing at all. Hinata had straddled Naruto at the hips. Her normal-sized breasts, from what he could feel, were touching his chest. In a way, Naruto did not have to look down, since he could feel just about all of her. Slowly, Naruto's member became aroused and began to increase in size. Slowly, he did what came naturally to him at this point.

He leaned in for a kiss. Slowly, he got closer. Hinata, however, put her index finger to his lips, stopping him. "Naruto…" she said, "Wake up!" For some reason, her voice sounded a lot like Shikamaru.

Naruto's eyes snapped open to be greeted with the same four walls he sees everyday when he wakes up. _'Damn… and it was a good dream, too.'_ There was a knock at the door.

"Naruto! Wake up!" It was Shikamaru. Slowly, Naruto went out and opened the door, still dressed in his pajamas, hat and all.

"What is it, Shikamaru? I'm trying to sleep here."

"Well, you see, that troublesome Sas- eh? Oh… heh heh," Shikamaru snickered. Naruto got angry.

"What's wrong? You wake me up at four in the morning to laugh at me? Is there something that you would like to share with me?" Shikamaru shook his head and pointed at Naruto's crotch.

"Look." Naruto looked down and, to his embarrassment, there was a dark wet spot. Naruto blushed. Shikamaru laughed even harder.

"God damn it!" Naruto yelled out loud. Shikamaru looked at Naruto once more.

"Wet dream?" Shikamaru said.

"Shut up. Either way, what is it that you need to tell me?" Naruto snapped.

"Well, that troublesome Sasuke has run away from Konoha."

"NANI???" Naruto yelled. Shikamaru put a finger in one of his ears. _'Sasuke… you damn bastard…'_

"God! You're even louder in the morning! Troublesome idiot." Shikamaru took his finger out of his ear. "Gondaime-sama has asked that you accompany me to bring him back home. So are you coming?"

"Of course! Just let me change out of these!" Naruto hurried back into his house and washed up a bit and put on his ninja attire. On his way out, he passed by the letter that he received not too long ago. _'Just in case,'_ Naruto took the letter and put it in his pocket. He then hurried out to meet Shikamaru. "Let's go!" They started running.

"So… what did you dream about?" Shikamaru asked. However, Shikamaru knew the answer before he even asked the question.

"Hey! What gives you the right to pry into my dreams, eh? Do I ask you of what kind of cloud you dreamed about last night?" Naruto yelled.

"Was it Sakura?" Shikamaru ignored him. Naruto did not seem to do anything other than running. "Or perhaps it was… Hinata?"

Naruto slipped, blushed, and almost fell down. A few seconds after he regained his balance, he asked, "How did you know?"

"Naruto," Shikamaru started. "You apologized to Sakura, who later saw you leave with Hinata. She immediately assumed that you two were a couple and told Ino," Shikamaru began to explain the chain reaction." Then those two, with their amazingly troublesome gossip abilities, told everyone they know about you two, including me. Then, the people whom they've told spread it to other people, and so on. So of course I know." He turned to Naruto, "You and Hinata ARE a couple, right?"

"I think… Anyway, who else are some good genins to bring along?" Naruto asked.

"I know one. Follow me." Naruto followed Shikamaru until they reached Chouji's house.

"Hey, Chouji! Open up! Man, being a chuunin is so troublesome…" Shikamaru took out a bag of chips. "Here, help me eat this. But do not eat the last one." They both started eating. Then, Shikamaru took out the last chip.

As soon as the chip was out of the bag, a pair of fingers grabbed them out of the air. "And what is the meaning of eating wit- oh? Oi, Naruto, is it true that you and Hinata are a couple?" Before Naruto could respond, a dog attempted to eat the last chip.

"Osoi (too slow)!" Chouji said as he ate the chip. The dog, however, continued to fly past Chouji and sunk its teeth into Naruto's arm, drawing some blood.

"Owowowowow!!! What's wrong with your dog, Kiba?" Naruto flailed his arm, trying to get Akamaru off of his arm.

"Is it true or not?" Kiba said, his face in an expressionless mood.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Don't play stupid with me. I'm talking about you and Hinata," Kiba said again.

"Um… well… I guess," Naruto answered. Kiba heaved a sigh.

'_I never really had a chance though…'_ "Akamaru, you may stop biting his arm now." Akamaru leapt off to show the vicious bite mark he left. "Here, let me take a look at your arm." Naruto shakily held it up to Kiba to inspect, afraid that Kiba would discover his secret. _'That's strange… it's already healed… must be some sort of bloodline that he doesn't know about…'_ "Well, your arm looks okay.

"Ahem. Either way, Sasuke has fled from Konoha. Gondaime-sama has asked me to get some experienced genin to help bring him back. Originally it would have just been Chouji, Naruto, and me. But since you're here, would you also like to join us on our troublesome mission, Kiba?" Shikamaru said. Kiba nodded, and the group of four went on their way.

"We don't really have much time left before we have to leave," Shikamaru said. "So whichever genin we meet next will come with us. It's good to have company." They ran until they met a flight of stairs. On top were Neji and Lee. Neji, noticing Naruto's presence, decided to have a talk with him. Helping Lee down the stairs, he stood in front of Naruto.

"Naruto," Neji started.

"Yeah?"

"I do not care who Hinata-sama chooses to go out with." Neji said.

"Oh. Okay."

"However, if you hurt her," Neji gave a tap with his fingers, bringing some pain to Naruto's shoulder. "I'll make sure that you the pain you feel from me will be infinite times greater." Naruto trembled. "Stay out of trouble."

"Whatever," Shikamaru said. "Neji, we four are going to bring that troublesome Sasuke back to Konoha. He ran away some time last night. Would you like to join us on this troublesome mission?" Neji nodded and then turned to Lee.

"You know what to do, Lee. I want you to get stronger as soon as possible, but do not push yourself too hard." Lee attempted to give him his nice guy pose, but found it a bit difficult. So he simply nodded. Lee turned to leave, but before he left left, Neji called out to him with a very faint blush on his face. "Oh, and um… could you tell Tenten-chan that-," Lee cut him off.

"No problem! I'll tell her where you'll be and that you'll get back safely." Lee then left. Naruto was just staring at Neji.

Naruto scoffed. He turned to Lee, "since you're telling Tenten, would you mind if you told Hinata-chan?"

"Of course!" with that, Lee left. Naruto turned to Neji.

"Tenten…chan? And you're telling me to stay out of trouble."

"Shut up," Neji answered, a blush gracing his face, "and let's go." The group of five genins went to the North gate. Shikamaru told them their game plan. They would travel in a line, with Kiba in front, then himself, followed by Naruto, Chouji and Neji. After they had checked their supplies, they were about to set out.

"Matte!" Sakura called out to them. They turned around to face the pink-haired genin. "Naruto… please… bring Sasuke-kun home… I want to talk to him… I want to just hold him… I want to… to love him…" tears trickled down her face. Naruto walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-san, I promise that I will bring him back… alive…" Naruto gave her a light pat on the shoulder and turned around. "Right now, you're in pain, a pain that I know all too well. I will bring Sasuke home. That is a promise of a lifetime!" Thinking back to what he and Sakura said at the ramen bar yesterday, his previous words played through his mind. _'Sasuke wouldn't accept an invitation like that. And if he did, he's strong. I guarantee it!'_ So much for that. _'Damn it, why did you do it, Sasuke? You had everything here, and you threw it away.'_

"Well, at your order, Shikamaru." Chouji said.

"Well, before we leave," Shikamaru began, "I would like to say something. I never really knew Sasuke very well. I simply knew that he was a smart ninja. However, he is a Konoha shinobi, a comrade, which is why we are going to bring him back. That is Konoha's view. Even though it's troublesome, I am in charge of your lives." Kiba gave a snicker.

"Now you're being more like a chuunin," Kiba said.

"Well, let's go," with that, the group of five exited the gates of Konoha.

_**Hyuuga Manor**_

Hyuuga Hinata woke up with a nosebleed. _'It's that dream again…'_ Recently, Hinata had been dreaming that Naruto was only wearing his boxers around. She got up out of bed. Slowly, she dressed herself. Then she reached for the door.

"Hinata-sama," it was one of the branch house servants. Hinata had always felt pity for them, and would always be nice to them. She hated the idea of using a seal to imprison someone. It was just inhumane. "Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama wishes to speak to you. He is in the living room." Hinata gulped.

Whenever her father wanted to talk to her, it was never a good thing. The last time they talked, he had told her on how much he wished that she was more like Hanabi: strong. He looked down upon her as a failure, something not even worth noticing. Slowly, Hinata made her way down the flight of stairs to meet her father in the living room.

"Hinata," her father said.

"O-Ohayo, tou-san," Hinata stammered.

"Come with me," with that, Hiashi lead Hinata to the family dojo. Inside, the Hyuugas sat in a ring, with Hanabi in the middle. "Hinata, you are to fight Hanabi once more." Hinata gulped. Slowly, Hinata walked into the ring of watching elders. The two daughters took their places. A referee sat at a table.

"Hajime!" Hiashi yelled. Immediately, Hanabi was at her sister's side, delivering a blow and sending Hinata out of the ring, ending the match. Hiashi walked over to Hinata.

Slowly, trembling, Hinata stood up. Hiashi stared. Then he slapped her. "You… get out of this house." Hinata snuck a look at Hanabi, who had a smug look on her face. "And don't ever come back," her father's voice dripped with venom. Slowly, Hinata exited the room. Then she broke into a run. Tears started to flow down her eyes as she reached the front gates. She stopped running after exiting the front gates and fell to her knees.

'_Why… why am I so weak? I train… and yet I get no progress at all… it's not fair…'_ she continued to cry.

"Hinata-san, is something wrong?" Hinata looked up. Rock Lee was standing in front of her.

"I… I just got d-disowned…" Lee's eyes opened in shock. What kind of family rejected their daughter if they were too weak? Lee knew a lot about Hinata. Before the exam, Neji had often ranted about how much he hated Hinata and the main family. Naruto, however, managed to beat some sense into Neji.

Lee wanted to kneel down to give her a hug, but his leg prevented that. So he patted her head. The message he needed to give her was not a good one. And her mood did not help at all. But he needed to do it. "Hinata-san."

"Y-Yes, Lee-san?"

"Naruto, along with Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, and Chouji, have left the village to go after Sasuke."

"N-Nani?" Hinata forgot all about her previous troubles. "T-that can't be true! S-Sasuke had everything he w-wanted here…"

"I thought so too. But apparently, he's missing something."

"I-I must see Hokage-sama! I need to ask her if it's true!" With that, she left Lee and ran to the Hokage's office.

_**In Pursuit Of Sasuke**_

**(Kit… you're angry… aren't you?)** Kyuubi said. The group of five was traversing through the field laden with trip wires. One wrong step, and the entire group could end up dying.

'_Of course I'm angry! Sasuke-bastard has left Konoha when he had everything that he could have wanted! Is all of this really just for revenge?'_ Naruto had been brooding. He had been brooding from the moment he left Konoha to now.

**(_'Excellent… I won't even have to tell him how to activate it. He'll do it himself.'_)** Kyuubi chuckled to itself.

'_Is there something you would like to tell me?' _Naruto asked.

**(Well… You've managed to beat and humiliate Sasuke, so I'm planning to give you a new taijutsu stance.)**

'_Really?'_

**(I'll tell you when the proper time comes.) **Kyuuibi was rather happy, for soon, blood would be spilled.

"Oi, Naruto! Look out!" Kiba yelled. Apparently, Naruto wasn't paying enough attention and would have stepped on a wire. Shikamaru, however, stopped him. "I told you to be careful!" Naruto remained unemotional.

After getting out of that situation, Shikamaru studied the trap. "It's a double layer trap. With so many traps on this field, that could only mean that they're resting," he looked toward Neji, who nodded.

"Byakuugan!" Neji's veins grew around his eyes. "I see them. They're resting."

"However, we need to think of an attack plan. Until then, we do not engage," the shadow user said. "We'll split into two teams. Naruto, Chouji, you guys go with Kiba. Neji, you're coming with me." And Shikamaru explained their attack. It involved a smoke bomb, some explosive notes, and a whole lot of kunais. Hopefully, they won't get caught.

"Neji and I will go in first while you three flank them," Shikamaru ended. "Now lets go." Paying no heed to the spider webs, they positioned themselves.

"It looks like they don't know we're here-…? … Get down!" Neji yelled. Sakon, the man with seemingly two heads, had just thrown a kunai tagged with three explosive notes on it towards them.


	13. Just Like Kakashi

Finals are over! Chapter for you! Thank you all for your reviews. Now, to respond.

Manatheron: Next chapter, I swear that Naruto will get a peak at Hinata.

VentMonster: I purposely made Hinata lose the fight quickly to show the gap between the sisters.

Raven11: It's the thought that counts.

TimeShifter: You're wrong, very wrong. You're so wrong that even the word wrong refuses to acknowledge your wrongness. No harsh feelings.

Battousai: I update whenever I can.

A/N: I will be away from December 26th to January 2ndish. Therefore, expect no updates between those days. I'm going to Europe.

A/N: Also, I need to know the names of the people in the Akatsuki.

A/N: This chapter is focused more around Naruto. The next chapter, hopefully, will be more centered around Hinata. Also, the next chapter will have more NaruHina fluff.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

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Chapter Thirteen: Just Like Kakashi

Encyclopedia Ninja has many entries for famous shinobis. Among its rosters, Hatake Kakashi is in first place for being the ninja that is looked up the most out of all others in the book. Many people are intrigued as to how he acquired the Sharingan and want to find a way to get one them self.

However, they will be disappointed, as the encyclopedia does not host this kind of information.

However, it does have a possible reason as to why he is so perverted and is normally found reading Icha Icha Paradise.

According to some sources, it is believed that one night back when he was six, he got up to get a drink of water. However, he heard strange noises in his parent's bedroom and decided to take a look. He walked into the room and discovered that his parents were currently in the process of making love and thus paid no attention to Kakashi's trespassing. Traumatized, he ran out of the room seconds later screaming and entered the closest bedroom, which belonged to his brother, Takashi, who was eighteen. He had mistaken it for his own.

However, Teisu, who was Takashi's girlfriend and someone who was like an older sister to him, was also in the process of making love to Takashi, so they took no notice of him. Once more, Kakashi bolted out of the door screaming and ran into his room

The next morning, he walked down to breakfast; his eyes plastered open and breathing deep, ragged breaths. His parents asked him what was wrong and he told them what he saw that night. His parents them explained to him the birds and the bees and that these things were okay, though they did not say that it was okay only at appropriate times. They figured that they could tell him later.

Smiling, Kakashi went to use the bathroom. Right after he closed the door, the kitchen blew up, taking his parents and brother with it. It was discovered that it was an assassination attempt to kill Kakashi. Thus, taking his parents' last words to him to heart, he set out on his life journey, no longer afraid of smutty thoughts or pictures.

Apparently, he had taken it too much into heart.

And so, that is the most circulated reason as to why he was so damn perverted.

As for why he is so damn late, Encyclopedia Ninja offers no answer.

And now, here was the perverted jounin, quickly running after Shikamaru's team. He had just gotten back from his mission, which he successfully accomplished. When he reported to the Hokage, Tsunade told him what had happened and asked him to head towards their direction to help them.

Without a second thought, he went to help is student bring home his other student. Kakashi leapt from tree branch to tree branch, Pakkun, his dog summon, helping him find their position. Pakkun stopped on a high branch.

"Oi!" the dog sniffed the air. "I smell some explosions and fires. That might be them"

"Is it Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. Having never seen Naruto use his flames, he never knew he could use them. So he obviously assumed that it was Sasuke using his Katon jutsus.

"No, it's not Sasuke. But whoever is using it…" the dog sniffed the air again, "is powerful and covered in their opponent's blood." Pakkun shivered, "I can feel the killer intent radiating off of him from way out here." Suddenly a small pillar of purple flames grew in the distance, about three miles away. It faded moments later "It's coming from that direction! Let's go!" With that, Pakkun leapt off of the branch and Kakashi followed suit.

'_Am I too late?'_ Kakashi thought to himself. The perverted jounin seemed to be lost in his thoughts for several minutes. Pakkun turned his head to Kakashi.

"The killer intent… it's stopped…" Pakkun said.

"Are you sure it's not Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. In fact, I can't detect him anymore. I stopped detecting him about five minutes ago." Kakashi faltered, but continued moving. They stayed silent for a few minutes.

They had failed their mission to bring back Sasuke. "This is not good." Kakashi said to his dog. Pakkun motioned for Kakashi to stop. They landed on the next branch and looked down. There, on the path back to Konoha, were the five shinobis who left hours ago. They all looked fine with only a few scratches, save one.

Naruto was covered in blood. His orange jacket and pants seemed to have been made of red instead of orange. The mentioned shinobi stopped, catching the attention of his teammates. "Kakashi-sensei, I know you're there." Naruto looked up to face him. The rest of his teammates, confused, looked up to where Naruto was looking at. And sure enough, there was Kakashi. But the perverted jounin noticed that something was different about Naruto.

Naruto's forehead protector covered up his left eye. He looked just like the Yondaime and Kakashi put together. Kakashi leapt down from the branch and landed in front of Naruto. He also noticed that Naruto was trembling. "Shikamaru," the jounin turned around, "what happened out there?"

"Well, you see, we were going to put up a sneak attack wh-," Naruto cut him off.

"I… I almost killed him," Naruto mumbled. Kakashi immediately turned around.

"Whom did you almost kill?" he asked.

"I… I almost killed Sasuke…" Naruto whispered. "I got so caught up in killing that… I… I almost killed him."

"Naruto," Kakashi said, "what happened?"

"I… I killed those four… Sasuke got out of that… barrel thing and then Orochimaru… he took Sasuke and ran," Naruto carefully chose his words, not wanting to give away what he had just received from Kyuubi. If Kakashi got the slightest wind that he was learning a few things from the Kyuubi, he could get into major trouble.

Kakashi, obviously, knew that what Naruto had told him wasn't the whole truth; he had left gaps in his tale. However, he could see that Naruto was under a lot of mental stress, having just experienced his first kills. "Hm… I see. We should get back to Konoha," Kakashi said. And with that, the group of six shinobis made their way back to Konoha.

_**Hokage Office**_

"You failed???" Tsunade said loudly. Hearing the news of the team's failure, she was rather surprised. "What happened?"

Several ANBU members overheard her and quickly left the building.

"Naruto managed to kill the Sound Four, he almost killed Sasuke, and then Orochimaru came and took him away," Shikamaru said. His answer shocked Tsunade.

"N-Naruto killed all four of them?" Shikamaru nodded at the Fifth's question. She turned to Naruto, who was covered in blood. He nodded, though rather shakily. "I see. Naruto, you may leave. It is obvious that you need to overcome the shock of killing." With that, Naruto stood up and left the office. She turned to Shikamaru. "What happened out there?"

"You know when I said that Naruto managed to kill the entire Sound Four?" Tsunade nodded. "He didn't kill them," Shikamaru shuddered, "He slaughtered them."

"Keep explaining." Tsunade was enraptured by what Shikamaru said.

"Well," Shikamaru continued, "first, he transformed into this… demon-like state. He could use purple flames and his nails were pretty long. Then he killed the four by either burning them or viciously slashing them to pieces. When Sasuke got out of the barrel, he attacked Naruto. But Naruto was too powerful and caught up in bloodlust that he almost killed Sasuke. But we managed to stop him."

"And then Orochimaru came, his arms fully functional, grabbed Sasuke and ran. Naruto became his regular self. We left him alone for a while so he could overcome the shock. When he came back, he had his forehead protector covering up his left eye like Kakashi-san," That was Shikamaru's explanation of what had happened. Tsunade nodded and dismissed everyone except Kakashi.

"Kakashi, I want you to keep an eye on Naruto. Not only is he in shock, I fear that his emotions may be unstable. And also, try to understand why he covered up his left eye," Tsunade said. Kakashi nodded, and left.

Naruto was making his way down to the main entrance. He was lost in his own mind. Was this what Haku meant about killing your heart to become a true shinobi? Perhaps. His mind returned to the recent events of the day.

_**Flashback**_

The explosion had thrown the Shikamaru and Neji into the presence of the Sound Four. They were grinning as the two Konoha shinobis stood up. "What's this?" Sakon asked. "I thought they were snakes, but they're just insects." Jiroubou got ready to attack. Shikamaru snapped up.

"Wait! Wait! We're here to negotiate," Shikamaru said. Kidoumaru smiled and stretched out a pair of hands over his head.

"Then what are these?" He brought his hands forward, throwing Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba to where the other two ninjas were. Kiba released his smoke ball and landed upright. "What's the point of using a smoke bomb? You can't escape from me. My wires are thinner, stronger, and better than normal ones."

"So, it was a three layer trap. Who'd of known that there were people who could do that?" Shikamaru said.

"I'll get rid of you guys now!" Kidoumaru was about to charge, but he could not move. "What is this?"

"Heh, Kage Mane no Jutsu," Shikamaru told him. "You're not the only one with tricks up their sleeve."

"This could be bad…" Sakon said, "but I can do this." The head on his back was missing. Suddenly, three shuriken flew at Shikamaru, who had to disengage his jutsu to avoid them. Jiroubou took the opportunity to trap them.

"Earth Barrier: Clay Prison!" he slammed his hands into the ground, causing clay to sprout out around the five and sealing them in.

"Damn it, we're in that big guy's prison," Shikamaru said. Meanwhile, Naruto was thinking of a way out of the place.

'_How are we going to get out of here?'_

**(Well, it's a clay prison.)**

'_And how does that help me?'_

**(Go figure.)** By now, Kiba had already attempted to break open the place with his Tsuuga.

"The walls won't break," he said.

**(Think fire, kit.)**

'_And how are flames going to help me?'_

**(The walls absorb the damage fairly well. However, heated clay can't take as much punishment before breaking. I thought that you would have known that.)**

'_Unlike you, I've never taken a pottery class. But thanks anyway.'_ Naruto began to gather an enormous blue fire into his right hand.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Shikamaru asked.

"Kiba, when I tell you to, use your Tsuuga where I tell you," Naruto told him.

"Who made you leader?" Kiba asked.

"Just do it," With that, Naruto released the flame on the clay wall, heating it so that it hardened. "Now, on the same wall." With that, Kiba released his Tsuuga on the wall, effectively smashing an exit.

_**Outside The Prison**_

"When you're done eating, catch up to us," Sakon said. Jiroubou simply nodded. But when he got ready, he heard a cracking noise. This sound attracted the attention of the other members. They looked towards the prison to see a crack form. Slowly, the crack grew until the wall crumbled and the five Konoha shinobis escaped.

"It looks like these five are skilled," Sakon said. "Perhaps they're snakes after all."

'_These bastards… they're so arrogant… I hate them… Kyuubi! Lend me your chakra!'_

**(More than happy to, kit.)** With that, Kyuubi began to give Naruto his chakra. A purple circle appeared underneath Naruto. Then, fiery purple chakra enveloped Naruto, closing them from the view of the Sound Four. The four sound shinobis got into an attack position. Slowly, the chakra dissipated.

Naruto had undergone another outfit change. He no longer had a shirt of any kind on. Instead, he only wore a black trench coat. His bright orange pants were replaced with blood red ones with a loose-hanging string connecting the knees. On the back of Naruto's trench coat, it read 'The Fallen One.' But what really scared the Sound Four and the other Konoha ninjas were Naruto's facial features.

His hair was no longer blonde. His eyes were no longer blue. His eyes and hair were blood red. Naruto looked like a demon.

Naruto took a look at his hands. His nails were an inch long. Naruto stooped over and dragged his nail through the ground. A deep gash appeared in the earth. Time instantly slowed down.

**(This, kit, is the Fallen Fox Style. It's more deadly than the Holy Fox Style and also uses flames, though they have different properties. Here, you can use your flames on the ground, so that they'll travel to their target. Also, instead of orange, your flames are purple. Your claws are retractable, too.)**

**(You can also use this taijutsu without my chakra. But since we're in this fight, I'll let you use it for now. Remember, when you use this with your own chakra, it will not be as powerful as if you used mine.)**

Slowly, a Naruto entity entered existence, this time in Naruto's Fallen form. The entity performed each and every move that Naruto could do. Slowly, the entity faded away. Naruto turned to face Jiroubou, a demonic smile on his face. **(Go kill them.)**

Naruto entered the fighting stance that the entity had shown him earlier. Putting his right arm behind him, he lashed it forward from down to up, creating a traveling purple flame at Jiroubou. The flame traveled so fast, that he large man did not have the chance to even scream before he was burned to death. Not even his ashes were found.

Then Tayuya went in for a punch. Before she knew it, Naruto had stuck one claw into her kidney. He ripped upwards, her blood splashing onto him. He put his other claws into her other kidney and did the same, sending Tayuya flying. Then, with a seemingly impossible leap, he retracted his claws, put his hands together into one large fist, and slammed down on her head, snapping her neck.

She hit the ground with a thud. She did not move. Naruto walked by, and to make sure she was dead, he cut her throat. Naruto then turned to Kidoumaru. He could see the fear in the six-armed man. He ran to him and put many slashes on his body. Then Naruto grabbed Kidoumaru's shoulders, the man barely alive. Naruto then made an explosion on his opponent's chest, sending the dead man away.

The fox boy turned to the last sound nin. Sakon was scared, but was wise enough to run. However, he was not fast enough. Naruto got in front of him. Naruto thrust his arm forward as if he as going to send a fireball at him. However, he instead made a small plume of flames. He did the same with the other, except the second hit sent Sakon upwards. Naruto then leaned back, his hands behind his head. "Koro de… Kimeru ze!" Naruto snapped forward and a huge pillar of purple fire engulfed Sakon, burning him away.

The rest of the Konoha nins looked at Naruto. _'How did he get so powerful? He killed all four of them without a sweat,'_ was the thought that ran through each one of them. They had seen Naruto in a different form, but this form seemed monstrous. His blood-soaked body gave them the impression that he was a mass murderer.

Thump. The five nins turned to face the barrel. Thump. Everyone got into an attack stance. Crash. Sasuke had broken free of the barrel; his cursed seal at level two. Sasuke looked around to see that his team was killed. He then turned to see Naruto.

"Naruto, did you do this?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded, the shock of killing people had not hit him yet. Sasuke's eyes widened. If Naruto could kill these people, then he was no match for him. He was afraid that he would lose and even get killed. Naruto, seeing the fear, smiled and shot a purple fire at Sasuke.

"No!" Shikamaru yelled, "We're here to capture Sasuke, not kill him!" But Naruto did not respond. The flame traveled to Sasuke and hit. But instead of killing him, they paralyzed him and slowly burned him. Naruto walked towards Sasuke, with his back towards the rest of his group.

"So, Sasuke, why did you leave the village?" Naruto's voice dripped with venom. "You had everything one would ever want."

"I wanted power! Something that only Orochimaru can provide for me," Sasuke yelled. "And I'm going to prove that I'm stronger than you!" Sasuke fainted from the pain.

"Wrong answer," with those two words, Naruto raised his right hand to strike at Sasuke's throat.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru yelled, grabbing Naruto with his shadow. "Naruto! We're here to take him back, not kill him!" The paralyzing flame disappeared, dropping Sasuke to the ground. However, another voice called out from the trees.

"Vicious, aren't we, Naruto?" Orochimaru leapt down from a tree next to Sasuke. "Despite your efforts, my arms have been restored," he flexed them to show the group. "I took over a body to gain his arms. It will be another three years before I can take another body." Orochimaru walked to Sasuke and picked him up. He looked to Naruto. "I really should have killed you during the Chuunin Exams." Orochimaru disappeared, leaving the group of five.

Naruto disengaged his form, returning to his orange-clothed self, though the blood was still on his clothes. Shikamaru approached him. "Naruto… are you okay?"

Naruto nodded and looked around. He saw three of the four bodies of the Sound Four. He turned away from his group. "I killed them… didn't I?" Shikamaru confirmed his thoughts. The guilty feeling of taking peoples lives hit Naruto, hard. He started trembling. "I… I think I need to sit down…"

"I think we all need to. We'll leave you alone for now. When you're ready, tell us." The group of four left Naruto to his thoughts.

'_I killed… and not just one… but four…'_

**(And you did a damn good job.)**

'_Easy for you to say. You've been killing for who knows how long.'_

**(Yeah, well, it's the first kills that get to you. After that, it doesn't affect you as much anymore.)**

'_I feel so guilty…'_

**(Do you know any other shinobi who wasn't guilty after their first kills? Shinobis are killing machines. You are taught to kill. It is your job.)** Naruto stayed silent. **(Do you think that you'll ever become Hokage if you never killed someone?)**

That hit the spot. _'I guess I had to sooner or later,'_ with that, Naruto didn't feel so bad anymore.

**(Good. Now, since your performance here was excellent, I'm going to give you something else. Just about everything I'm going to teach you from now on will require it. Take off your forehead protector and cover your left eye. You'll want to hide it from the rest of the group.)** As soon as Kyuubi said that, Naruto covered up his left eye. Slowly, a numbing sensation hit his left eye. After a while, it left. **(I want you to take a good look at it when you get back to Konoha. I won't awaken it until you do so.)**

With that, Naruto stood up. He was ready to leave.

_**End Flashback**_

Naruto shook his head. He did not want to kill his heart for other people. He did not want to be a cold, heartless murderer. He did not want to lose Hinata.

Naruto decided to make a pact. He would never kill unless he either had to or if it was a part of his mission.

Naruto walked by a bathroom. Remembering what Kyuubi said, he entered and faced a mirror. He took off his forehead protector to see his new eye. The look was not like the Sharingan or the Byakuugan, but was rather a light green. There were straight lines leading from the outside of his iris to a few millimeters away from the start of the pupil. _'So what does this eye do?'_

**(This eye is capable of many things. It's a combination between the Sharingan and Byakuugan, with a twist. You can't copy moves or see three hundred sixty degrees or the tenketsus, but you can see fast-moving objects and see through walls to a limit. However, that is not what makes this eye special.)**

**(You can easily make hybrid genjutsus. It takes what you want to do to someone and makes it real to the person. Though it may look like a genjutsu, it actually is not. It cannot be cancelled and it will last as long as you maintain it or until your chakra runs out. However, if it is to work, you will need direct eye contact, so you need to show your eye to your opponent.)**

**(In order to see through objects or see fast-paced things, simply channel some chakra into your eyes. When you want to use your eye against someone, think that thought, get eye contact with the person and gather chakra to your eye. Everything else should fall into place.)**

**(That is the first technique I will teach you. The rest will come when I believe you are ready for them. Also, I'm only giving you one eye for now. You'll need to get used to it before I can give you the other one.)**

Naruto shrugged. This eye thing sounded pretty convenient. Smiling, he put his forehead protector back on, covering his left eye. _'I'll need a name for it. But I'll figure that out later.'_ With the smile still on his face, Naruto left the building. A small stone was thrown at him, hitting his forehead protector.

Naruto came face to face with the Konoha villagers. "You failed to bring back our Uchiha!" one of them said. "Your just a worthless demon child!" yelled another. Another stone came at him, though he dodged this time. Slowly, the group parted, revealing a teary-eyed Sakura. Slowly, she walked up to him. She showed no emotion. Then, raising her hand, she slapped him.

"You failed! You couldn't bring back Sasuke-kun! What kind of idiot are you?" Sakura yelled, "You promised me that you would bring him home! And from what I heard, you almost killed him!" she slapped him once more, this time, on the other cheek. "How can you almost kill him when you can't even bring him back? You're just some worthless piece of trash," Sakura screamed. Another stone was thrown at him, followed by more.

With each stone thrown, Naruto could feel his anger rise. _'That is it… Kyuubi! I need your chakra.'_ Slowly, a purple fire engulfed Naruto. The crowd stopped their stoning and watched as the flame circled around him. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed Sakura by the neck and lifted her up. The flames dissipated to reveal Naruto in his Fallen Fox form.

"What do you know about Sasuke? Can't you see that he's just some power hungry bastard, who will do nothing to get it?" Sakura kicked at him, but he did not let go. "What kind of shinobi are you? All you have ever done was sit back and watch your precious 'Sasuke-kun' and your worthless trash of a teammate do the work for you." Naruto took out his other hand. "That forehead protector you wear… you don't deserve it." Using his free hand, he pulled off her forehead protector and he threw her into a building. He put her forehead protector into his pocket and walked away.

"Stop right there, Naruto." Kakashi leapt in his way, Sharingan revealed. "Why did you attack Sakura?"

Naruto smirked. "That bitch deserved it. Get out of my way."

"Where do you plan to go?"

"Away from here. It's regrettable, but why should I stay at a place where only a few people actually give a damn about me? Now get out of my way before I make you."

"No, I cannot permit you to leave. We will not have another of our shinobis leave." Kakashi got into a fighting stance.

"Why should I listen to you? All you've ever done was pay attention to Sasuke. You cast me into the ground after knowing that Sasuke would be a better student than me. I bet that the Yondaime would never pick favorites, right?" Kakashi's head drooped a little before snapping back upright.

**(Now would be a good time to use your eye.)**

Smirking, Naruto took his left hand and brought it to his forehead protector. He closed his right eye. "I bet you want to see what's underneath this, don't you?" He lifted it up and opened his eyes. _'Pain… lots of pain…'_ he followed the Kyuubi's instructions. Instantly, Kakashi was on the floor rolling in pain he never felt before. Naruto decided to turn it off when he believed he got his point through. By now, the crowd of villagers had backed away and ran.

Kakashi was panting on the floor. Naruto walked right by him, and covered up his left eye. Slowly, Naruto left Konoha and reverted to his original form. He broke into a run, tears rolling down his face.

Minutes later, a dark blue-haired kunoichi chased after him.


	14. Broken Dreams, Confessions, and Organiza...

I did it! I got the chapter up before I leave! Wow! I now have an average of twenty reviews per chapter! Thanks!

Daniel of Lorien: I'm sorry that you did not like my previous chapter. I did say that some characters may be OOC. And Sakura needed to be OOC in order for this fic to continue. As for Kakashi rolling on the floor, well, in hindsight, that was a bit too much.

Light Seiger: Sakura needed to be OOC. As for Orochimaru, it was vital for the story that Sasuke gets whisked away. Plus, I don't d/l the manga, so I don't know what really happens yet.

A/N: I need a name for Naruto's eye.

I will leave on vacation until January 2nd, so don't expect updates this week.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters

Onward!

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Chapter Fourteen: Broken Dreams, Confessions, and Organizations

Hyuugas are often looked up in Encyclopedia Ninja in Konoha, though not as much as Hatake Kakashi. That is because they are the most powerful clan of Konoha. With their all-seeing eye, they can easily take out their enemies.

And this is what the disowned Hyuuga Hinata's feet sounded like.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

She had heard all of this from the townspeople, who seemed overjoyed. All of them kept chanting the fact that Naruto, whom they referred to as 'that demon boy,' was gone. Some cheered, and some drank. That, of course, got Hinata angry, though she didn't show it very much.

But what really shoved her off the edge was the fact that someone had enough guts to set off fireworks.

Hinata looked over her shoulder back at Konoha. Out of the corner of her eye, she could still see the fireworks. Staring back in sadness and anger, she thought back to the moments before she ran after Naruto.

_**Flashback**_

"N-Nani?" Hinata loudly whispered. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't

"Thatsh right, little gurl, that demon boy ish gone!" the man took a swig of sake from his bottle. The man then ambled in a drunken fashion down the street, singing with some of his friends. Hinata turned to her cousin.

"N-Neji-nii-san, we can't lose another shinobi! T-Tsunade-sama can't let that happen!" Neji turned to her.

"I know, but Tsunade-sama says that we are not go after him. For some reason, she says that he had the right to leave all his life, and that she was surprised that he had not left earlier. I heard that she's not even going to put him on the missing nin list," Neji said.

"W-Why aren't we going after him? We can't keep l-losing people! A-At this rate, Konoha will just be an empty space!" Hinata said. They approached the gate from which Naruto left. "K-Konoha needs everyone it can get."

"Hinata-sama, to tell you the truth, I believe that we did not lose a shinobi," Neji said, seemingly coldhearted. Hinata dropped her head, saddened by the fact that no one seemed to care about Naruto.

'_Naruto-kun… no one cares about you except me.'_

"We lost a Hokage," Neji finished. Hinata looked up and turned to him.

'_Perhaps not…'_ she thought. Neji turned to her.

"You are no longer a part of the Hyuuga Clan, so you are now free from them. Make good use of your freedom: go after Naruto and tell him how you feel. It may be your last chance." Hinata needed no more persuasion. With newfound will power, she ran through the gates in search of Naruto.

_**Flashback Ends**_

'_Naruto-kun… What would make you want to leave this village so badly? What would make the villagers hate you so much?'_ Hinata thought as she activated her Byakuugan. Somewhere, off in the distance, she saw a body with its back leaning on a tree in a clearing.

_**Where Naruto Is**_

'_So… tired… have to… stop…'_ apparently, running full speed and using his eye on Kakashi had taken its toll on him. Naruto was barely standing, using a tree to support him. He had trouble breathing and decided that it would be a better idea to put his back against the tree.

**(Normally, when you just use the eye's most simple abilities, it slowly drains chakra at a small rate. When you use its other abilities, the eye takes up a lot of chakra. Even with your chakra capacity, you probably would only be able to use it once a day if you use it for a minute.)**

'_So why don't you use your chakra to help me get better?'_

**(Well, you used my chakra for more than a minute, thus heavily draining mine, even though I'm perfectly fine. If you let your chakra return to you normally, you can increase your capacity. Besides, someone's coming to meet you pretty soon.)**

'_Well, I'd prefer to get away from those damn villagers.'_

**(Not from this villager.)** Then Kyuubi went silent. Slowly, with Naruto's improved hearing, he could hear the patter of feet. Judging by the noise, it was only that of one person, and that he or she did not weigh very much.

Hinata entered the clearing. "N-Naruto-kun!" she ran to him. He noticed that she, for once, was not blushing.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto was tired and a bit confused as to why she was here. He walked out a bit and was even more confused when she hugged him and started sobbing into his chest.

"N-Naruto-kun… why did you leave?"

"Hinata-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Slowly, he could feel Hinata's knees give away, and he quickly sat down, stretching his legs in front of him. He put his back against the tree. Hinata was still sobbing into his chest, except that her legs were entwined with his and she was half lying on him.

"I-I heard that you ran, and I-I followed after you," Hinata looked up at Naruto. The tears slowly made their way down her cheeks, each tear stabbing into Naruto's heart. "W-Why… Why do they treat you like that? W-Why can't they see you as how I see you?" her body began to shake. Naruto gently wrapped his arm around her, his hands resting on the lower portion of her back.

"I left because no one there cared about me," Naruto said. Hinata, hearing those words, let more sobs escape her mouth.

"I-I care for you," Hinata whispered. Naruto looked at her in surprise, but then he was filled with sadness, as he knew that he would have to tell her the truth. "I cared for you so much… that it hurt every time when you asked Sakura out for a date. Every time when you glanced me by, it hurt. Every time when I saw you fail at something, it hurt." Silence filled the glade, punctuated only by Hinata's sobbing.

Naruto looked down at Hinata, who was still sobbing into his chest. "Hinata-chan," he said. She looked up at him, her cheeks soaked in tears. "Do you remember when you asked why they hated me and looked at me like they did?" she nodded. "Do you remember my response?"

"Y-You said that you would tell me later. Why?"

"Now, I believe that the time is right for you to know. Do you remember something that happened thirteen years ago involving the Yondaime?" Naruto asked.

"T-Thirteen years ago, K-Kyuubi attacked, and the Yondaime g-gave his life to kill it, and thus saved everyone in Konoha," Hinata said.

"I see. You've only been told half of the truth. Then again, they made a law against telling the younger generation," Naruto said.

"H-Half truth?" Hinata whispered.

"The Yondaime was not strong enough to kill it."

"T-Then what happened to the K-Kyuubi?"

"It was sealed away. The Yondaime somehow managed to seal it away with Shiki Fuujin, a forbidden jutsu, because it not only takes the life of the target, but also the user. Originally, it would have sealed the Kyuubi into the stomach of the Death God. But it was too large, so the Yondaime was forced to seal it into something else." Hinata did not like where this story was going. The half-truth sounded sad enough. But the truth, as Naruto told it, sounded even worse.

"P-Please Naruto-kun… stop…" she sobbed.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot stop. You need to know the truth, Hinata-chan. So because the Yondaime could not seal the Kyuubi away properly, he sealed it into a child. Do you know who the child is?" Hinata, still looking into Naruto's blue eye, shook her head. Inside, fear began to build in Naruto. If he told her, she could leave all alone, breaking his heart and spirit. But he knew what he had to do. "Hinata-chan, I am that child." Naruto lifted his forehead protector to show her the eye.

"Those forms, the eye, the tails, they were all taught to me by the Kyuubi. My chakra capacity is greater than most people at this age, and, possibly,of those who are older." Naruto took out a kunai, "When I get hurt," he put a small gash on his cheek where Hinata could see it. It quickly healed itself. She gasped a bit. "I heal almost instantly. Sometimes, Kyuubi will talk to me and help me in battle. Sometimes, it will stay silent. That, is the truth that I could not tell you back then." Naruto gave off a shaky breath.

Those words left Hinata stunned. She understood now. The Kyuubi took the lives of many people. And the people only saw the Kyuubi inside of Naruto, not the boy himself. She buried her face once more into Naruto's chest, letting more tears roll down her face. She knew now that the man whom she held in her arms needed love. He needed it for thirteen years, and received so little. It was time for her to act. She hugged him tighter and continued to sob into his chest.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto said. She did not look up, she only sobbed into his chest. Feeling the warmth of her tears through his tear-soaked shirt, he continued, "Can you find it in yourself to care for a demon child?"

"N-No, I do not care for a demon child," Naruto felt hurt and hung his head in sadness. But her actions did not depict her words. She could have recoiled from him. She could have attacked him. But rather, she hung onto him even more than before. "I cannot just care for a demon child, because…" Hinata took in a shaky breath. This was it.

"I-I am in love with the demon child I'm holding right now," she did her best to stop crying. "I-I always watched you, f-from the side, through your success and failures," Hinata gave another short sob. "A-At first, I admired you: y-you could put on a happy face though everyone scorned you. Y-You wouldn't give in to what the people wanted you to feel. And t-then… it grew from there. I-I've had thoughts about who I'd like to spend the rest of my life with… and… I-I'd like to spend my life with you. Y-You never judge, and you tend to b-bring out the better part of people," she looked up to face Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun… I-I love you."

After a few seconds of digesting the information, Naruto closed his eyes and gave off a smile. He opened them again. "Hinata-chan," Naruto looked into her eyes. He took one of his hands and gently stroked her dark blue hair.

It was now Naruto's turn to blush, a light red formed on his cheeks. He noticed that there was a tear forming on the edge of her eye. Using the same hand, he gently swept it away. She blushed at the contact, but found it rather comforting. "I'm glad you feel that way because…" he gave her a soft, loving kiss on her lips. Both Naruto and Hinata blushed even more at the contact. "I love you too."

**(I told you that you wouldn't want to run from this one.)**

'…_Thanks.'_

**(Oh, thanking me, that's a first.)**

'_And that will be the last if you don't keep your snide comments to yourself.'_

"Did you really mean it when you said that you'd want to spend the rest of your life with me?" Naruto asked. Hinata, blushing heavily, nodded. "I see." Naruto put his hands underneath Hinata's armpits and stood up, lifting Hinata to her feet also. He put another light kiss on her forehead.

"S-So what are we going to do now?" Hinata asked.

"Well, the one thing I know is that I'm not going back to Konoha," Naruto removed his forehead protector.

"W-Why not?" Hinata asked.

"There is no future there for me. I saw the fireworks they set off. They don't want me," Naruto looked back towards Konoha. "Though I regret leaving Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin, Tsunade-baachan and Konohamaru, those four are the only people that are keeping me from destroying Konoha today." He removed his forehead protector, and, using a kunai, put a deep gash into it, getting a screech. He put it back on.

He heard another screech, one that emulated his forehead protector. He turned around to see Hinata put a slashed forehead protector around her neck. "Hinata-chan? Are you sure that you should have done that?"

"I-I was disowned from my family, so I have no place to return to. A-And I did say that I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Hinata looked into his eyes. "I-I intend to fulfill that."

"Then, we leave Konoha together." Naruto said. He adjusted his forehead protector so that it covered his left eye.

"B-But what if Tsunade-sama puts us on the Missing Nin list?" Hinata asked. "S-She probably thought that you would come back." There, Naruto turned to her with a mischievous smile.

"We can't be on the list, if they we're dead."

"H-How is that possible?"

"The Kyuubi happened to have taught me some nice jutsus. One of them was being able to create a bunshin that looked like it had died." Naruto quickly did the hand seals. "Death Bunshin no Jutsu!" Immediately, splatters of blood appeared on trees and the ground. _'But what about Hinata?'_

**(Take a bit of her blood onto your thumb and do the jutsu.)** Naruto turned to Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, I'm going to need a drop of your blood in order to make it look like you've died too." Slowly, Hinata nodded and took out a kunai. She grazed it along a small part of the back of her hand, a line of blood forming. Naruto swiped his thumb across it and did the jutsu once more. More splatters of blood, this time Hinata's covered the area.

"And now, the finishing touches," Naruto tore off a piece of his orange jacket and put it onto the ground. Hearing another rip, he turned to Hinata, who had ripped off a piece from her sleeve. She placed it on the ground also. "Eager to leave, huh?" Hinata nodded. Then, still using Hinata's blood, he wrote the following on the ground: We have the Hyuuga's eyes. _'That should put Konoha into a panic and keep them off of our trail.'_

Hinata saw the last bit and frowned. "I-I know that you don't like this village, but isn't that a bit overboard?" Naruto shook his head.

"I used the last bit to not only cause mischief, but also keep them off of our trail for a while." Naruto walked by to Hinata. She blushed a bit, but then walked to Naruto and gave him a kiss on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled his lips off of hers. He stared into her eyes, and she stared back into his. "Ready to go, Hinata-chan?"

"Yeah," Hinata began to walk to the nearest city. "If, we're q-quick, we-,"

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Hinata turned around to see a golden fox with one tail. Naruto jumped on. "There's no need to walk there." He extended a hand to Hinata, who took it and also got on. She gently wrapped her arms around Naruto's stomach, blushing.

"Where to, master?"

"Let's go to Tanzaku City, we can think of our next move there. Try to avoid roads. It will take longer, but it'll be safer." With that, the golden fox leapt off carrying to shinobis.

_**Three Days Later**_

Tsunade had her head on her desk and buried under her hands. Her blonde pigtails cascaded onto her desk, the ends fanning out a bit. She picked up her head and stared at the three sheets of paper on her desk. Each had a picture on it. One was a Missing Nin sheet while the other two were death certificates.

_Uchiha Sasuke_

_Direct Family: Parents – killed. Elder brother: Uchiha Itachi – Missing Nin_

_Status: Missing Nin_

_Reason: Betrayed Konoha and ran to the Hidden Village of Sound_

_Age: 13_

_Bloodlines Limits: Sharingan_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Direct Family: Unknown_

_Status: Killed In Action_

_Cause of Death: Unknown_

_Age: 13_

_Bloodline Limits: Unknown_

_Hyuuga Hinata_

_Direct Family: Disowned from family. Parents – Hyuuga Hiashi, mother deceased. Younger sister – Hyuuga Hanabi_

_Status: Killed In Action_

_Cause of Death: Unknown_

_Age: 13_

_Bloodline Limits: Byakuugan –CAPTURED – _

She read them. Then she read it again. _'So sad… two shinobis with great potential dead, and a third a missing nin.'_ Tsunade set her head back down onto the desk, feeling too tired to keep her head up, set her head back onto the desk. _'Those damn Hyuugas… It's their fault that this happened. But… those who deserve death are already dead…'_ She loved Naruto like a younger, no, a baby brother. He reminded her so much of Nawaki, that every time she saw him smile, she saw Nawaki smile back.

But now that Naruto was dead, she felt that she had seen Nawaki die twice.

'_We got all this over some damn cover-up. We should have told Sasuke the truth back then. But… I guess that Sarutobi-sensei was more interested in the safety of Naruto than Sasuke's mental health.'_

'_This Hokage stuff is shit…'_

Tsunade let out a stifled sob. Things weren't looking good. They had losttwo valuable shinobis and one was a missing nin. Tsunade still needed to tell the village about the news, and yet, she was sure of it, half of the village would be drinking, dancing, eating, and being merry. Sure, the death of Hyuuga Hinata and the capture of her eyes along withUchiha Sasuke being marked as a missing ninwere both regrettable and serious, but the village citizens would seem happier to know that Naruto was dead.

With the capture of the Hyuuga's eyes, they would most likely get their own strengths used against them. But they couldn't make a mission for ANBU to retrieve the eyes, because they didn't know which village had the eye. It could be that one village has both eyes, or two villages have one. War would be imminent if they didn't do something.

Tsunade couldn't ask which village had the eyes, either. One, no village would admit to it. And two, it would show weakness and cause other villages to attack.

If the worst comes to worst, Konoha would be a cindering ruin.

A knock on the door brought her back to reality. "Come in." Jiraiya entered, along with Iruka, Kakashi, and Kurenai. She had sent for them so that they could know about the recent news first. Of course, she had also sent for Hyuuga Hiashi, but he declined, saying that he did not know someone called Hyuuga Hinata. She mused with how Hiashi would react when she announced the news of the capture of the Hyuuga eyes, then reverted back to the group that had entered.

However, she did not expect Anko to be there. Sure, she was Iruka's girlfriend. But she didn't know that Anko would want to tag along. "Anko, why are you here?"

"Well," Anko began, "I was with Iruka for lunch and then Jiraiya came to get him and I decided to tag along. I know that Iruka loved Naruto like a son, and I had a feeling this involved him."

"You're right, it does involve Naruto, but I'll get to that part later," Tsunade turned to Kakashi. "I have decided to file Uchiha Sasuke as a Missing Nin." Kakashi nodded, seeming to have expected that from his former student.

"I understand. Please, what about Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"He's dead," Tsunade quietly said.

"Nani? H-He's dead? But… he…" Iruka could say no more, as there were no words that he could find to express his grief. Anko quickly moved to him and hugged him from the side. Iruka, being a refined shinobi, did his best not to cry, though he let out some stifled sobs. Kakashi simply looked down at the floor, filled with remorse. Kurenai decided to approach him.

"It's okay, Kakashi-kun. We all lose friends at some point," the red-eyed jounin said.

"It's not only that… but… he reminds me of Obito…" Kakashi drifted off. Kurenai began to pat his back in an attempt to soothe him. "He always tried hard for Sasuke's recognition… and now he's dead… Kurenai-san… it hurts so much to have someone close to you die…"

"Speaking of that," Tsunade took out another card and handed it to Kurenai, who gasped. "Hyuuga Hinata is dead, and from what was written, they have her eyes." Kurenai started to tremble. She had known that Hinata had gone after Naruto, and she had watched all this time seeing how much she admired, possibly loved the boy. Iruka stood up.

Iruka did his best to keep his voice from wavering. "I… I've decided to take participate in the next Jounin Exam. I felt that… I stayed as a chuunin for Naruto. I… I believe that he would want me to move on." With that, Iruka left, with Anko, leaving two jounin in shambles, and a very disheartened Hokage.

_**Tanzaku City**_

"I'm taking a walk, Hinata-chan. I'll be back in about an hour."

Naruto said that fifteen minutes ago. She was eating breakfast then, and Naruto wasn't too sure if she heard him, but he left anyway. Now, he was sitting on a park bench, fingering the letter that he had received. Open this letter only when you feel that there is no one who will accept you. That's what it said. It was tempting to open it. He was sure that there was no one left, other than Hinata, who would accept him.

But there was Hinata. She accepted him. Therefore, he shouldn't open the letter.

'_But they think we're dead now and no one really accepts Hinata-chan either…' _Naruto rationalized. _'So it would be okay if we both opened the letter together.'_ Naruto stood up from the bench and headed back to the room they rented.

When they got to Tanzaku city three days ago, they bought some new clothing, their old ones a dead giveaway of who they were. After doing so, they went to a hotel to rent a room. But there was only one room open for rent. Of course, it was a little uncomfortable for them, but they had to make do. Plus, they saved some money, which they were slowly running out of.

But what made it the most uncomfortable was that there was only one bed. Of course, being the growing gentleman, he let Hinata sleep on it. But she felt saddened for him and, blushing a great red that matched the Hokage's robes, offered him a spot next to her, since the bed was rather large. At first, Naruto was surprised and felt rather uncomfortable with the offer; thus, he did not take it up. However, after some coaxing, Hinata managed to get Naruto into the bed she was in, albeit with much blushing from the both of them.

And then there was the boyfriend girlfriend matter. They had to come to terms with what they were comfortable with. They decided that gentle kissing and hugging was legal. However, anything below the waist for the both of them and Hinata's breasts were currently off limits. Anything else was fair game, as long as it was gentle.

As Naruto walked back to the hotel, the people looked him by. That was because he was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. He needed to blend in with the people, and since his face was rather unique, he walked around the place with a Henge. Hinata did that too, as her eyes were a dead giveaway as to who she was. Instead of wearing her baggy sweater, she wore a green t-shirt with a frog in the front. Her gray pants went down to the middle of the shins. Neither of them wore their slashed forehead protectors

**(Hey kit.)**

'_Yeah?'_

**(I'm going to teach you how to see fast-moving objects and through walls now. It is important that you utilize this ability. You see that fly over there?)** Naruto nodded. He noticed how it seemed to be a blur and that he couldn't see it very easily. **(Focus your chakra to your left eye and keep your sights on the fly.)** Amazingly, Naruto was able to see each and every detail on the fly. He could see the six legs, the antennae, and so on. He stopped focusing chakra and walked into the hotel complex.

**(Good, now, I'm going to teach you how to see through walls.)** Naruto opened the door into the hotel room and turned off the Henge. He still wore his black and white clothing, but was now is normal-looking self. **(All you have to do is focus chakra into your left eye and just stare off into space. Of course, it will not offer you the nearly three hundred sixty-degrees that the Byakuugan offers, but you can see through objects.)** Naruto stopped in doorway and did as the Kyuubi told him. But he couldn't see through much.

'_I can't see much here…'_

**(As of right now, your visual range for seeing through things is minimal. However, it will grow with time. Take a look around the room. Try to get a feel of how far your eye can see.)** Naruto did as he was told and looked around. He turned to face the entrance and froze.

Hinata had just gone to get ice and was standing outside the door, fetching her keys.

And apparently, his left eye could see through more than just walls.

Hinata opened the door to be greeted by Naruto, who had a nosebleed.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked. Naruto simply let his eyes slowly trail down her body, drinking in every single detail. She noticed that his left eye was glowing a bit. She flushed in embarrassment and gave Naruto a light punch to bring him back.

"Y-You were looking through my clothes… w-weren't you?" Naruto had told her about the functions of the eye and how it glowed when he used its abilities. He also told her what he knew it could do, like see through objects.

"Huh? Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan!"

**(HAHAHA!)**

'_You knew, didn't you? You god damn knew!'_

"I-It's just that KyuubiwasteachingmehowtoseethroughthingsandIturnedtothedoorandyouwerethereand I… I… It was an acc-," Hinata gave him a light kiss on the lips that shut him up.

"I-It's ok, Naruto-kun. I-I've seen you… somewhat n-naked before…" she blushed. "A-At the ramen bar… Y-You were looking for the ticket and… I-I think it's only fair that… y-you… well… getalooktoo." she gulped and stopped talking, blushing deeper than before.

"Oh. Okay. But I need to show you something," Naruto took out the letter. "Want to open this together?"


	15. The First Step

URGH!!! I'm so sorry for the long update! I had a vacation, and then it tooke me a while to write this. Wow! 301 reviews! That's crazy!

Binnybobarino: Tsunade never saw Naruto use his death bunshin move. She only saw him usehis time bunshin.

animewatcher: All will be revealed in time.

aku-chan: I also know how he got the Sharingan, but it wouldn't make sense if this book were to suddenly give out all of your personal secrets.

Dragon Noir: I like the name Gensougan, so he'll call it that in later chapters.

Enigma: Yes, Naruto will finish his version of the Chidori.

A/N: For all of you who felt that Naruto was a bit OOC when he used his Fallen Fox Style, that's because it is activated by his hate. You may have missed it, but both times before he transformed, he was rather hateful.

Another A/N: Also, many of you were confused about just what the hell Tsunade was talking about. In due time, the truth will be revealed. But until then, there will most likely be snippets here and there.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: The First Step

Within the pages of _Encyclopedia Ninja_, it is stated that the average kunai is the best overall weapon for combat. Having a heavy tip, it can be thrown, used for cutting things, marking other things, etc.

The following statement was often used:

"Ever heard of Uchiha Itachi? Boy, did that frood (know, talked with, drank with, slept with, etc.) 1 know where his kunai was."

That was, of course, before the Uchiha Massacre.

We will return to Uchiha Itachi.

It is most important to know where your kunai is. It is the most fundamental weapon, and learning to throw a kunai is, perhaps, the most skill. It is so important that learning to throw one is the first thing taught to ninjas-to-be.

The kunai was first made by a leaf shinobi, whose real name has been forgotten, who was tired of simply using shurikens. Often, they did not go deep enough to kill. Also, the larger shurikens were too bulky and easy to dodge. So, using basic math, he created the first prototype kunai. It was heavy-tipped and could be easily thrown in a straight line. They were also long enough to ensure more of a higher chance to kill the target.

After numerous field tests and improvements, the first set of kunais was issued about a year after the first prototype was made. Over time, the kunai was modified, creating different styles for different purposes. Even now, scientists are trying to see if they can improve the kunai even more. Making it heavier, lighter, or longer can make different effects.

The idea of the kunai was spread through war, finding discarded kunais littering the battlefield. At first, they were myths. A weapon that is accurate and more damaging than the shuriken seemed to be more fantasy than reality. Stories of horror about the weapon sprouted and Konoha was feared by all other villages. But after a Grass shinobi managed to bring one back, the truth dawned upon them. Taking what they found, they replicated the idea. This cycle happened to each village, discovering and copying the idea of the kunai.

Back to Uchiha Itachi.

Uchiha Itachi was furiously looking for his kunais. He had just found them a moment ago, and now he could not find them anymore. Drawers were flung open and neglected, as Itachi did not have time to close them. What has happened can put his mission in jeopardy and may reveal that he is still working for Konoha, along with Hoshigaki Kisame, who was sent by Hidden Rain to assist Itachi. Of all of the Hidden Villages, only Rain and Leaf knew that Itachi and Kisame were not Missing Nins, only posing as them.

The letter had been signed. The way the letter works is that reader who wishes to join takes a bit of their blood and puts a streak of it onto the letter. Then a crystal inside the Akatsuki Lair would glow, meaning that it had been signed. At least that was the way that it worked when they had sent him the letter. It was how Kisame's letter worked also.

But something was strange.

The crystal indicated that two people had signed the letter.

This could get worse.

"Where the hell are they?" Itachi muttered to himself. Kisame entered the room, ready to leave. His sword was put onto his leather sling. Kisame put on a sharky grin.

"Can't find your kunais?" Kisame said. Contrary to the popular saying, Itachi would always have trouble finding his kunais except in battle. He would lose it, find it, and then lose it again in moments. Often times, he would find them in the most awkward places, like in his trashcan, or behind one if his well hidden picture frames. It's like someone was hiding it from him purposely.

"Shut up and help me find my damn kunais."

"Did you check your pockets?" Itachi felt around in his pockets and pulled out his kunai set. Kisame began to laugh.

"Shut up," Itachi left the room, "and lets go. We're late." Kisame followed after him. "How can you be laughing at a time like this? We could get found out and killed." Kisame stopped laughing. They exited the lair and turned to Tanzaku city.

With a bound and a leap, they leapt into the dark night. Time was something they didn't have.

_**Tanzaku City**_

_Naruto,_

_We at the Akatsuki have recognized your potential and are willing to accept you into our ranks. It is your choice to accept or not. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you reject our offer, you will not get another chance._

_If you should choose to accept, wipe some of your blood onto the letter. We will do the rest._

That was what the letter said. Naruto and Hinata had been thinking about signing the letter, Naruto because the Akatsuki provided little information about themselves, and Hinata because the letter was not addressed to her. But in the end, after several hours of intensive thought and discussion, they wiped their blood onto the letter, knowing that they had little, if anything, to lose.

By then, it was already nighttime. The intensive thought and talking had lasted to a bit past midnight, and they were tired. Each taking a quick separate shower, they changed and went to sleep in the same bed.

Hinata had taken a shower before him, so she was sleeping when he got out. She was gently breathing, facing the drawer next to the bed, where the clothes were. Adoring her sleeping form, he slowly walked to the drawer where his clothes were. He placed the towel that was covering him off and tossed it on the drawer.

Now unknown Naruto, Hinata had always been a heavy sleeper, and would often not wake up until the person was speaking into her ear.

Unknown to Naruto, Hinata wasn't sleeping. She, hearing the towel hit the drawer with a fwap, she opened her eyes to see a side view of him. Her eyes widened and a small trickle of blood made its trail down from her nose. She wiped the blood from her nose and quickly turned, creating a loud shuffling noise. Luckily for her, Naruto had dropped a piece of clothing, bent down to pick it up and ended up hitting his head against the drawer, swearing loudly. Then her mind decided that it would fall asleep. Her body agreed with her mind, and set out to work.

In short, she fell asleep.

Naruto put on his last piece of clothing. He gently got into bed and pulled the covers over himself. He turned himself to face Hinata. Her dark blue hair looked majestic from that angle. Be it short, it was still pretty. Raising his hand, he went to gently stroke her hair. Hinata had told him how much her mother used to stroke her hair when she was a child, and that she liked it when Naruto stroked hers too. As his hand was about to reach her hair, she gently turned in her sleep to face him.

He turned off the lamp and let the moonlight from the window illuminate Hinata, making her evermore beautiful. _'God… she's beautiful…'_

**(She'd make one hell of a wife for you.)**

'_Wife? Me marry her?'_

**(Face it. You're 'dead,' no other girls like you, you've seen her naked and she has seen you naked, have discussed important matters together like a wife and husband, and you're already sleeping with her.)** Unbeknownst to Naruto, Kyuubi had much better hearing and heard her shift very unlike someone who was sleeping. Thus, he assumed that she saw him naked. **(You're basically acting like a married couple already.)**

'_Did she really see me naked?'_

**(Yes. Right before you bent down, she was watching you.)** Naruto's cheeks began to burn. He let his different colored eyes take a look at her sleeping face. But once more, something was out of place. **(Plus, she's pretty.)**

A trickle of blood was making its way down the side of her face. "Naruto-kun…" she said in her sleep. Gently, Naruto wiped the blood away from her face and kissed her forehead. A gentle smile sprawled itself across her face.

"Hinata-chan…" she woke up, but kept her eyes shut, "you're beautiful…"

Her eyes gently opened. "D-Do you really think so?" Naruto was a bit stunned, but gave her a kiss on the lips.

"Of course I do." He pinched her cheek and they glowed a bright red. Then, using one beneath the blanket, he tickled her.

"Naruto-kun, d-don't do that!" she said, laughing. In truth she didn't want it to stop. But someone else did.

"Naruto." Immediately, he stopped tickling her and faced the doorway. There stood Itachi and Kisame, cloak and all.

"Who are you guys?"

"We are the Akatsuki," Itachi said. "Now normally, we were just supposed to bring you. However, the letter showed that two people had signed it. Was it you?" Hinata, who had hidden herself behind Naruto so that they could only see her face, nodded. Itachi went over to her and stared at her. Being rather dark, he couldn't see her very well.

"What's your name?" Itachi asked.

"H-Hinata. H-Hyuuga Hinata." Itachi froze up.

"She's my girlfriend," Naruto added defensively.

Kisame understood what was going through Itachi's mind. He quickly dragged him out of the room. Then, in a quiet voice, he talked to him. "Itachi, snap out of it!" he shook him a little.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Itachi breathed a deep breath.

"Do you think we should bring her too?" Kisame asked. Itachi thought for a moment.

"She does know that we exist now…" Itachi trailed off.

"So to keep her quiet, we take her along?" Kisame asked.

"…We should. Besides, it will make bringing Naruto back to Konoha easier, seeing that they're boyfriend and girlfriend."

"But are you okay with that? I mean-."

"I'm fine," Itachi reentered the room, "The Akatsuki could use a Hyuuga." He turned to the two thirteen year-olds. "Get dressed. We leave now. Bring only what you can wear. Burn everything else. We have to erase any trace that you were here."

_**Konoha, Late at Night**_

Deep within the alleyways of Konoha, there lies a bar. It's not very well known, but some people know where it is. It's a selective bar, allowing in only certain people. There, people could blow off steam and complain about things. They can drink until dawn, or they can eat some food. It's a social place. Parties are often held there and the bar is held in high esteem for its famous way of serving.

Whenever someone orders something, his or her order is connected to a spinning rack. The rack spins and then the chefs there make the order. And then, with amazing precision and accuracy, one of the chefs launches the food out from a hole in the wall. The food is then caught by the bartender and served to the customers.

Welcome to the Jounin Bar. Being open only to jounins or higher and chuunins who were invited, it's not a mystery as to why people don't know it very well. And inside the Jounin Bar, a chuunin and two other Jounins were interrogating Sarutobi Asuma.

"Are you sure they were dead?" Iruka asked, nervously using his fork top lay with his food in front of him. Anko was there beside him, because she went wherever he went. Asuma drank some sake and then put it back down.

"Yes, I saw their blood on the ground. After I brought the samples back, I had them identified. One was Hyuuga Hinata's, and the other was Uzumaki Naruto's." Asuma emptied his drink, paid his tab and left. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, I guess that's it…" Kurenai gave off a small hiccup. She had been drinking a little, but was not drunk yet. Her face was red and she was just a bit tipsy and that was all, Kurenai told herself. In truth, she had never been drunk before. She was too afraid of what might happen if she got drunk. Iruka stood up with a sigh. Iruka never really drank. He didn't like the taste very much.

"If I'm going to pass the Jounin exam, I better start training. See you around." Iruka left the bar, Anko following him. Kurenai turned to Kakashi, who had just had his eighth bottle of sake, was taking it pretty hard. The masked man ordered another sake.

"Kakashi-kun, you really shouldn't drink that much. It's not good for you," Kurenai chided. Kakashi didn't listen and drank the whole bottle without pouring some into the little cup first. Then he ordered another. Kurenai sighed. As the bottle shot out, Kurenai grabbed it and drank it before he could.

"Hey! That'sh mine!" Kakashi's words were a bit slurred.

"I don't care, Kakashi-kun. You're drunk and I'm taking you home." With that, she paid the tab for him, since she was pretty sure that he was too drunk to pull out his wallet. Grabbing him by the arm, she half walked, half dragged him back.

That was until he tripped and then passed out on the ground. Sighing, she gathered some chakra into her arms and picked him up. She continued to walk to his apartment room. Sifting in his pockets for the keys, she opened the door and set him down on the couch. As she was about to leave, it began to rain heavily. It was late and raining, so she decided to stay at Kakashi's apartment.

Once more she picked up Kakashi and brought him into his room. She tucked him, on his side, into the futon and grabbed a small blanket to sleep on the couch. Then, she reentered the living room, lay down on the couch and brought the blanket over her.

But it was thin and she was cold.

Inside, she fought with the thought of whether she should sleep out on the couch, or risk it with the pervert.

'_Screw this. I'm cold and I'm not staying out here.'_ Kurenai reentered Kakashi's room. Still in her day clothes, she carefully climbed into the futon. _'If he gropes me, he's dead.'_ Then she went to sleep.

But she was unable to sleep. Deep in the back of her mind, something was nagging her and wouldn't go away. She turned around to face Kakashi.

That mask.

He was never seen without that mask.

And now here was her opportunity. Slowly, oh so slowly, she reached for the mask. She held her breath in anticipation. Would his face be pretty? Scarred? Deformed? She didn't know. She pulled it down.

And found another mask. She breathed a sigh of exasperation. She pulled the second mask down without the same care as the first mask.

And there was his face. Kurenai gave off a small gasp. She gently stared at his face and let his mask be a part of the past. Those lips… became enticing. Not stopping there, she removed Kakashi's forehead protector, revealing his full face to her.

What a sight to see. She was sure that no one had ever seen Kakashi's full face except for his parents. And his parents were blessed with a beautiful child. He was as handsome as can be. It was almost like he was fairytale handsome, with Prince Charming being replaced with Kakashi.

And now that she saw him, she brought herself to his face to take a closer look. It's not an everyday thing where a person got to see Kakashi's full face. She let her eyes travel up his face, and then down again to his lips. A feeling deep inside of her followed it. She couldn't put her finger on it. What was this feeling, this strange feeling boiling deep inside of her?

Whatever the feeling was, it brought her lips closer to his. She closed her eyes. Slowly, gently, she gave him the sincerest kiss she could give to him. Not just some innocent peck, but a guilty kiss. She pulled away, taking another good look at Kakashi.

Kakashi, unknowingly, was the first man to take Yuuhi Kurenai's lips in a kiss.

And unknown to her, she had taken Hatake Kakashi's first kiss as well.

Her lipstick had given his lips a slightly red color, making it seem alive. She blushed a tiny bit, knowing that a man who was asleep took her first kiss. His lips were soft and tasted sweet to her. It tempted her to kiss him again.

She did so.

With the nagging in the back of her head finally gone, she lay close to and facing Kakashi, and let blissful sleep wrap its warm blankets around her. She gently closed her eyes and took in a calm breath. Her last thought was, _'I wonder why I didn't see any of his porno books around here…'_

_**Akatsuki Lair**_

It was dark. Very dark. With each step in the hallway, they echoed off of the torch lit walls. Their shadows danced upon them. Then they turned right, followed by a left. Was it the third left that they had taken? Naruto had lost count. But he did know that Hinata was holding his hand, so she wasn't lost in some corridor. Then, Itachi and Kisame stopped at a double door. They each stood at opposite ends and opened them inwards.

Inside the room were many candles. A red carpet led inwards. Itachi and Kisame signaled them to enter with a hand motion. Naruto and Hinata walked to where the red carpet ended. Itachi and Kisame closed the doors, walked to where they were, and stood by their sides. They got onto one knee. Naruto and Hinata decided to take a good look around.

There were eight people in the room. Three were on one side, four were on another, and the last was sitting on a chair in front of them. He must have been the leader. "Itachi," the leader said. Judging from the voice, it was a man. Hinata immediately held onto Naruto's hand tighter. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "The letter was intended for one. Why are there two people?"

Itachi looked up. "She had signed the letter and knows about us."

"Is that all?"

"I felt that the Akatsuki could use more manpower. We lack numbers."

"What is her heritage?"

"She is a Hyuuga," Itachi looked at the floor once again. Murmurs filled the room. The leader gave it a bit of thought and then looked up to address the both of them.

"Very well then. You," the leader looked at Hinata, who did her best to stay still, "what is your name?"

"H-Hyuuga Hinata." She stared back at the head of the leader, whose face was covered by the shadows.

"What does the village think about you?"

"They think that we're dead. We faked our deaths and ran away. Judging from the fact that no one came after us, they bought it." Naruto said. The leader nodded. He then turned to Itachi and Kisame.

"I will be putting these two under your care. Now," he turned to the thirteen year-olds again, "is there anything else you want to say?"

"I have two request," Naruto said. The leader looked at him once more. "My first is that you let us bring back Uchiha Sasuke from Orochimaru."

"We have already planned to do something about that. We cannot allow Orochimaru to gain the Sharingan. What is your other request?" the leader asked.

"My second request," Naruto looked at Hinata and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "is that you let me and Hinata-chan get married in three years." Hinata, despite being in an intimidating environment, managed to blush. The leader thought for a moment.

"Very well then. At the end of the third year, we will give you two some time off to get married. Itachi," he turned to face him, "show them their rooms. We shall discuss the training plan tonight, and we will start a day from tomorrow." With that, Itachi and Kisame led both of them out of the main room.

Once again, Itachi and Kisame lead them through numerous dark halls, lefts, and rights. Finally, they stopped at a door. Naruto took his hand and opened the door. Inside, there was darkness until Itachi walked in. "The candles," Itachi said, "detect chakra, so they will turn themselves on. There's a bathroom over at the wall and some drawers here. As of right now, they're empty. But tomorrow we will get you two tailored with your personal set of clothing."

The walls were all made of stone. The candlelight reflecting off of it showed up as a red color. The candles were bright, but not bright enough so that they couldn't sleep because there was too much light. No windows were on the walls, but there was a strange coziness to the room. Though small, it felt a lot like Naruto's old apartment. The bed however was a queen size. It gave them enough room so that they may sleep on it together without getting too uncomfortable. The blankets were made of goose down, fairly expensive. Naruto, who never lived very luxuriously, felt that the room was also a bit too classy for him.

"Now we only planned on having one person, so for now, you two will have to share a room. Judging from what we saw earlier, you two are perfectly fine with that. However, there is to be no funny business. We can't afford Hinata getting pregnant," Kisame told them. Naruto and Hinata nodded, though blushingly.

"Well, I must go to discuss our teaching plan with the leader," Itachi said and left, Kisame followed after. Naruto turned to Hinata. They only wore their day clothes, so they had nothing else to sleep in. They both got under the bed covers.

And they lay there.

The both of them were apprehensive. Did they make the right choice in joining the Akatsuki? And what about the marriage? Hinata turned to Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, do you really want to marry me?"

"Of course, Hinata-chan. I love you, you love me, we're 'dead,' we've seen each naked, and we discuss important matters like a husband and wife. Plus, we're sleeping with each other," Naruto noticed that a very heavy blush crept onto her face.

"Y-You saw me looking at you when you were naked?" Hinata stammered. If he said yes, then she felt that she would die of humiliation.

"Eh, I didn't actually see you, but Kyuubi told me that you did." Hinata wanted to die. Her mind, however, would not allow it and instead made her blush. He held her hand lightly. "I'm sure that we've made the right decision." He gave her a light kiss. "Don't worry about it."

_**Itachi and Kisame**_

The two shinobis were currently on one knee before the leader. The leader simply sat on his chair, lazily holding a sake bottle. He took a sip.

"Itachi and Kisame, I entrust the two of them to you. Of the nine of them, you two are the best," The leader drank some more sake from his glass. "Naruto will become our trump card. Hinata will make sure that he doesn't die. Have her become a Medic Nin. The Akatsuki could use one."

"Understood," Itachi and Kisame said.

"Also, they will be partner trained. Alone, I want each of them to be a force to be reckoned with. Together, I want them to become unstoppable."

Itachi and Kisame agreed once more. The leader lazily drank the rest of his sake and threw the bottle against the wall. It shattered and the sound reverberated off of the walls.

"I have decided that we can no longer use the falcons to deliver letters. No matter what the circumstances may be, you are not to send a letter anywhere. It could become intercepted. Though that means that we will have to post our men around the cities, it's safer."

'_Damn… I can't tell Tsunade-sama or Yuki-chan… I can only hope for the best…'_ Itachi thought. "Understood."

"Tomorrow, you are to get them tailored and let them go through the weapons selection process." The leader's single red eye glowed in the darkness. The duo nodded again. "That is all." Itachi and Kisame stood up and walked out the door.

With no communication going in or out of the Akatsuki, they would need their men posted around villages to gather information. They would reduce their manpower in the lair to keep updated with what's going on.

Of course, it would make achieving their ultimate goal, defeating the Akatsuki, a lot easier. But with Naruto and Hinata here, the Akatsuki have already achieved theirs.

Things did not look pretty. That was all Itachi could say.

But that glowing red eye just made things look a whole lot worse.

* * *

1 The word frood was taken from the book _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_. Also, the framework of the phrase in which is used in also comes from the same book. I do not own that book.

Ha! A KakaKure pairing in here too! I might make a lemon for them also.


	16. Engagements, Weapons, and Nice Clothing

Hey! It's another chapter! Thanks for the reviews, guys! School's being a pain, but I get around. Response!

Binnybobarino: I have read "Two Halves," and I guess you could say that I was. However, whenever you see Itachi, you see Kisame. They must have been partner trained, and, logically, the rest of the members have been too. So it would only make sense for Naruto and Hinata to be partner trained.

Obsidian-fox: I know that I should just focus on Naruto and Hinata, but we also need to know what's going on in Konoha. It is important to the story.

Zhuyou: If you were offered a chance to join an organization that you have no idea about, most likely you would not join them. However, if you had nothing to lose, than wouldn't you? Naruto and Hinata are running out of money and they have nowhere to go. They can't go back to Konoha, and they can't stay at Tanzaku City.

Writerlover101:You're right. No one really knows whether the Akatsuki are good or bad. But they have Itachi in it, and at one point Orochimaru, so it had to be bad. But you're right, it could be good.

A/N: For all you people who want to read my lemon fic, its in my profile and the story is called The Eighth Guard. I don't think I did a very good job on that lemon because I treated it more as a thing instead of an act of love.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Engagements, Weapons, and Nice Clothing

Most clans in Konoha have bloodline limits. Take the Aburames for instance. They have the ability to use insects to help them in battle. The Naras can use their shadows to subject their enemies to snaring traps. But there is often one clan that is not very well known, because its bloodline limit does not help them very much in battle, and because there is only one Hatake left.

It is often said that a Hatake's face, both male and female, is one of the most beautiful faces in all of Konoha. In fact, it was so beautiful, that they would hide their faces as to keep their teammates of the opposite gender from getting distracted.

There is much secrecy behind the significance of the mask. Why does it cover the bottom half of the Hatake's face? Is it there to hide something, or perhaps prevent some strange power from taking place? No one truly knows except the Hatakes themselves. And there is only one left in Konoha, or maybe the entire world.

Kurenai is about to find out the hard way. But first, Kakashi must wake up with perhaps the greatest headache he will ever have in his life.

Kakashi woke up with perhaps the greatest headache he ever had in his life. He instantly knew that he must have been drinking late into the night. The last thing he remembered was…

He couldn't really remember much. All he remembered was being at the Jounin Bar and drinking. He must have drunk a lot to not remember what happened last night. He turned to his other side to see Kurenai.

That shocked him. He almost let out a yell of surprise. Since he couldn't remember anything at all from the previous night, he was not sure whether he did anything with her or not. He quickly threw off the covers and was glad to see that they were both fully clothed. Sighing with a breath of relief, he lightly tossed the blanket over Kurenai to keep her warm. Then, he went to the bathroom to take care of a few things, like taking some aspirin to help him with the greatest headache he ever had in his life.

When he got there, he opened the mirror, grabbed some aspirin and took it to help him deal with the greatest headache he ever had in his life. Then he put the bottle back and closed the mirror.

There he stared back at his face for a moment, felt that something was rather different, and then left the bathroom. He dismissed it as some side effect of drinking too much.

He rushed back.

He took another look at his face. Where was his mask? Where was his forehead protector? He took a closer look at his lips. There, Kakashi almost fainted. How could it have happened? How could he have been so careless, that someone could remove his mask without him knowing it? And how could they have kissed him?

There was lipstick on his lips. Running back to take a look at Kurenai, he noticed that her lips were the almost the same color as his. He rubbed his hands on his lips and compared the colors.

Yes, there was no doubt. Yuuhi Kurenai had taken his lips in a kiss.

But where was his mask and forehead protector? He looked around and saw that his mask and forehead protector were lying near his pillow. But what was worse was that Kurenai's hands were holding on to them.

Suddenly, Kakashi felt like he was going to throw up from all the alcohol he had. Rushing blindly to the bathroom, he threw up over the toilet. Then, he flushed it and looked at the mirror.

Having just thrown up and forgotten where his mask and forehead protector were, he was surprised to see it gone. Once more, he saw that his lips had lipstick on them. Once again he rushed out to see Kurenai holding onto them his forehead protector and mask. Once again he looked at his hand and noticed that there was some lipstick on them. He held it close to her face to compare the colors.

And the colors were still the same. Kakashi looked at the lipstick on his hand, and then at Kurenai's lips.

They still didn't change colors. They were still the same. Kakashi's eye and Sharingan Eye widened.

Suddenly, Kurenai began to stir and opened her eyes.

The first thing that greeted her red irises was Kakashi's beautiful face fainting to the side. He landed on his futon with a loud thud.

"Kakashi-kun!" Kurenai instantly awoke and went to kneel by his side. She tried to wake him up. She shook him and slowly, Kakashi's mismatched eyes opened. Suddenly, Kurenai noticed that this was not her house. "Where am I?" she asked Kakashi.

"Y-You're at my house."

"Why am I here?"

"I don't know." Kurenai instantly got defensive. Anything could have happened. Sex, drug trading, vows of engagement, anything could have taken place.

"Did you take advantage of me?"

"I don't know I was drunk!"

Bad answer. Kurenai slapped the downed Kakashi, who was on his back. Kurenai was pinning him down with her weight so that he couldn't get up very easily.

"Ow!"

"You did, didn't you? You took advantage of me!" She slapped him again. "You god damn pervert!"

"How could I have taken advantage of you? _You_ took off my mask. _You_ kissed me. _I_ should be asking whether _you_ took advantage of me or not!"

Memories of last night finally returned to Kurenai. Why she was at his apartment, why she had taken off his mask, why she woke up in his bed. Kurenai apologized and stopped pinning down Kakashi.

"Now, Kurenai, maybe you can tell me what exactly happened," Kakashi told her. Kurenai began to tell him what had exactly happened. Why she was at his apartment. Why she took of his mask and forehead protector and what she did after. Why she was in his bed. Kakashi, who was sitting cross-legged by the end of the explanation, buried his face in his hands and sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Kurenai asked.

"I don't think you know very much about Hatake traditions, do you?" Kakashi said, speaking through his hands. His different colored eyes were looking through spots where the fingers did not cover. Kurenai shook her head.

"The mask acts very much like an engagement ring. When a woman sees the face of an unmarried male Hatake without his mask on at any point in time, chances are she would be magnetically drawn to his face and makes her want to kiss him. Then, if she gives him a kiss, she is to marry him. But that's only if she kisses him." Kakashi removed his hands and looked at Kurenai in the face. "Now do you know the predicament that we're in?"

Kurenai buried her face into her hands. There she gave a deep sigh. "Is there anything else that I should know about the mask?"

"Other than the fact that this tradition is written in the Hokage's books and cannot be prevented, no." Kurenai fainted.

_**Akatsuki Lair**_

Hinata gently opened her eyes. She couldn't tell where she was. At first, she had some trouble trying to recognize where she was. Then she remembered what had happened. She let the facts slowly enter her mind, and then she smiled.

A knock was heard at the door. Naruto woke up, his eyes still half closed. "Wh-Who is it?" he heard Hinata ask.

"It's time that we get you prepared for your position as an Akatsuki member," she heard Itachi say. After Hinata gently nudged Naruto so that he would get up, they both headed to the door and opened it. There outside of their door was Itachi and Kisame. Naruto rubbed his left eye. His eye needed a name, he thought himself.

**(Call it the Gensougan. Illusion Eye.)** Naruto silently agreed and left it at that. Slowly, he and Hinata followed Itachi and Kisame through winding corridors.

"How the hell do you find your way through this maze?" Naruto sleepily asked.

"Through many times of getting lost. Plus the signs." Itachi said, pointing to one that said "Tailoring Room" with an arrow pointing to the left. Naruto must not have noticed them. He was still a bit tired.

They finally stopped at a door, which had the words "TAILORING ROOM" in large black characters. Itachi opened it and the thirteen year-olds entered it. Inside, it looked a lot like Naruto and Hinata's room, except that instead of the objects necessary for living, they were replaced with many tools, all of them for tailoring. There was also a table.

Itachi led Naruto to a spot with a single 'x' written on the ground. There, Itachi went to the left wall and pressed a button with the word "MALE" written on it in big letters. He also pressed another button with the number "SEVEN" written on it in big letters. "Hinata," Itachi said, "you may want to look away for a moment so that Naruto may have his privacy."

Finally, Itachi pulled a lever. Instantly, the machinery began to take measurements of Naruto. It took everything from his arm length to how long his penis was. Some machine. Naruto was rather glad that Itachi had told her to turn around. Then the machine stopped taking Naruto's measurements. Seconds later, a bell sounded and everything stopped. Seven sets of Akatsuki clothing appeared on the table. It consisted of black pants, a black cloak with red clouds on it, black shirts, a straw Akatsuki hat, and a black belt. He also received a set of nightclothes and boxers. Itachi handed the clothes to Naruto, who was surprised by the lightness of the clothing.

It was now Hinata's turn to step up. Naruto turned around to allow her some privacy. So did Itachi and Kisame. Itachi simply changed the "MALE" to "FEMALE" and once more pulled the lever. The machine once again started taking measurements. The machine even had the audacity to measure her bra size. Hinata, being shy, blushed. After some more times of measurement taking, a bell sounded and the machine stopped. Seven more sets of Akatsuki clothing appeared. Black pants, a black cloak with red clouds on it, black shirts, a hat, and a black belt were given to Hinata. She also received a few nightgowns and some undergarments.

Itachi once again led them out and back to their rooms. "We will need you to change into your appropriate clothes." Itachi then closed the door. Naruto looked at Hinata.

"You use the bathroom. I'll change out here." Hinata nodded and went to the bathroom to change while Naruto changed in the room. He put the rest of the spare clothing into his drawers and went outside. A moment later, Hinata joined him. Once more, Itachi led them down the many hallways.

Naruto and Hinata began to assess how their new clothes felt. Naruto felt that they were loose enough and that they weren't too constricting. Hinata's clothes hugged her figure more, but were still loose enough so that some person couldn't see a direct outline of her. They continued to walk down the hallways until they came to a room that read "WEAPONS SMITH" in big letters.

Itachi opened the door. And instead of being greeted with heat and the pounding of metal, instead, there was a man. His hands were glowing and beneath his hands was a small, silver sphere. The room had shelves full of those silver spheres. The man looked up from what he was doing and he stopped. "Ah… Are these the new recruits?" the man said. His voice was a rather welcoming one. Itachi nodded.

"Alright then." The man walked to a shelf and removed one of the silver spheres. He then walked over to Hinata and handed it to her. "Hold this." Hinata did so and as soon as she held it, the sphere began to change its shape.

It lengthened, it shortened, it grew fat, and it grew thin. It was more of an elastic rubber band than a silver metallic sphere. It was as if the strange alloy had a mind of its own. Slowly, the sphere lengthened into a pole. A blade began to protrude out of one end. The metal alloy stopped changing its shape and hardened. It was a scythe that was just the right size for her. Hinata was rather surprised that she would end up with this kind of weapon. A sword, maybe a spear, but not a scythe.

The blacksmith gave off a smile. "These spheres adapt to become a weapon that best suits you. I haven't seen anyone use a scythe as a weapon for a while." The man walked over to the shelf and picked up another sphere. "Well," the man handed the sphere to Naruto, "your turn."

_**Kakashi's apartment**_

"So is there anything else that I should know about this… mask tradition?" Kurenai asked. She sipped some of her tea.

"Well, for each gender, it's different. For a man, the woman must somehow kiss him with his mask off, whether it was removed willingly or not. For a woman, she chooses who she will reveal her face to, and then she kisses the man," Kakashi explained. "This tradition carries as much weight as a man giving an engagement ring to the woman he loves." Kakashi was not wearing his mask in front of Kurenai. He drank some of his tea. "Also, once the mask is taken off, it is never put on again. It is instead given to the person whom the Hatake kissed. So," Kakashi took out his mask, "this belongs to you."

"Oh… um… thanks… I guess," Kurenai trailed off. She took the mask and felt the lightness of it. She determined that it must have been made of some sort of soft cloth, as it did not feel like it weighed much. "How's Sakura taking this?" Kurenai asked.

"Not very well. She blames herself for Naruto's death," Kakashi gave a sigh. "But she'll pull through. Though she lacks physical strength, her spirit's strong." He drank some more of his tea. "But I'm more worried about Neji. He says that before Hinata ran after Naruto, he encouraged her, telling her that she was free from the Hyuuga curse." Kakashi examined his teacup. "And now some village has the Byakugan. Konoha isn't in the best of times right now."

"And to think," Kurenai added lazily. She held her teacup and swirled it a bit, "That what comes around," she emptied her cup and poured some more tea, "goes around."

"Yup."

"And all we can blame are the Hyuugas," Kurenai sighed. "It started with them, and it ended with them. But I bet the newer generation doesn't know the truth." Kakashi nodded. There was a silence that both of them found uncomfortable.

"So what do you think we should do about our genin teams?" Kakashi asked. "Should we get new students to go with our old ones, or should we combine our teams?"

Kurenai thought a moment and then responded "I think we should put Sakura onto my team. The numbers work well and we could teach them together for a while until you get a new team." Kakashi thought, and then nodded. However, another thought crossed his mind.

The Sharingan. Sasuke would stop at nothing to gain the full Sharingan. And in order to do so, he had to kill one of his friends. Sasuke would most likely have heard from Orochimaru that Naruto had died and would go after Sakura.

"Sasuke may come after Sakura," Kakashi said to Kurenai. "He would stop at nothing for power, and that would mean that he is probably more than willing to kill Sakura for the full Sharingan." Kurenai nodded, taking another sip of her tea.

"We'll have to tell Tsunade-sama about this," Kurenai said. There was another uncomfortable silence for the both of them.

"So… since we're going to be married sooner or later… I guess we should get to know each other better," Kakashi sipped some more of his tea. There was a slight pause. "I guess we'll start with the most basic. What do you like, what do you dislike, and what are your dreams?"

_**Akatsuki Lair**_

"Now that's strange," The blacksmith said.

For the past five minutes, the silver sphere has been growing and shrinking, lengthening and shortening. The sphere would not take a solid shape. It was as if when it became close to becoming a weapon, it stopped and changed again. Naruto was getting a bit tired of just standing there. He never did like staying in one spot for too long. After the first minute of the shape-shifting sphere, he began to fidget. Then he decided to take a closer look of the room.

On the left wall, there were swords, lots of them. Ranging from the simple katana to the most intricately decorated kodachi, Naruto swore that it was the largest collection of swords he had ever laid his eyes upon. He later turned to the left wall, and saw that there were many exotic weapons that he had never seen before. There was a spiked ball on a chain, which was attached to a stick. There was a club with sharp needles coming out of it. At the top of the wall there was a whip with barbs at the end.

Naruto was about to take a look at the last wall, but the blacksmith said, "Now that's strange." Naruto's attention was once more diverted to the sphere he held in his hand. It had stopped shifting its shape and had returned to its original shape. The blacksmith fingered his beard for a moment, and then took the sphere and put it back on the shelf. The man turned to Naruto.

"This is the first time I've seen something like this happen," the blacksmith examined Naruto. "I've read about it in my family books, but never seen it." Naruto got a little angry at the fact that the man wasn't making any sense and that he did not get a weapon.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto said in a slightly ticked off manner.

"The sphere, if I'm not mistaken, cannot work with you." The blacksmith said.

"Huh?"

"Normally, the sphere takes the person's purest emotion and transforms itself into a weapon which symbolizes it. Take your female friend. The sphere became a scythe because she wants to be noticed. Not only is the scythe a weapon rarely seen, it is difficult to master. If she is able to master it, she will stand out as one of the few, if not the only, people who have mastered the scythe." Naruto nodded, asking Kyuubi to explain later.

"I'm going to guess that it's because of the Kyuubi that the metal refuses to take shape." Naruto was a bit shocked as to how the man knew he had the Kyuubi in him.

"H-How did you know about the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked. The man simply gave a chuckle and then sighed.

"I've been working here for quite some time. How can I not know?" Naruto decided that it would be best if he didn't say anything in response. The blacksmith chuckled to himself, and then got back to work making more of those silvery spheres. The group left the room.

"Ne, Itachi, I'm-," Naruto began.

"You will call me and Kisame with the suffix sensei," Itachi cut him off.

"Whatever. Itachi-sensei, when do we get to eat? I'm hungry." Itachi was expecting this question, as it was the first thing he asked when he joined the Akatsuki.

"Follow me." With that, the two teenagers followed the two older members and entered the dining room. It was fairly large. There was one gigantic table with several dishes. Naruto frowned. There was no ramen. He sighed. They sat down next to each other, and soon enough, the other members of the Akatsuki joined them, except for the leader. As soon as they all sat down, they started to eat. Naruto and Hinata followed their example and began to also eat.

As soon as Itachi was about to take the first bite, his ring turned a bright red. It was a summoning from the leader. He stood up and left. Walking through the long corridors, he entered the leader's room and kneeled on one knee.

"Itachi, Hinata lacks confidence. I want you to take care of that. You are dismissed." Itachi bowed and then returned to the dining room.

"Hinata," the girl looked up. "I need you to come with me. We need to take care of your confidence problem." She gave the tiniest nod and then left the room with Itachi. Naruto eyed the pair, making sure that they didn't do anything funny. She was his girlfriend, after all.

"Don't worry," Kisame said, "Itachi won't be doing anything funny with Hinata."

"How do you know that?" Naruto said to him.

Kisame, being careful not to reveal the fact that Itachi has a girl back at Konoha, simply said, "He's my battle partner, how can I not know that?"

Naruto didn't look like he bought it.

"Just trust me," Kisame said, using his chopsticks to get some food from the dish in front of him.

Reluctantly, Naruto did so. After a while, Naruto decided to ask Kisame a question. "How come the leader doesn't eat with us?"

"Well," Kisame began, "he used to, but then most of the members got freaked out by his eye."

"What about his eye?" Naruto asked. He was like a young child in a place where nothing seemed to make sense. Since he would be here for who knows how long, he may as well figure out as much as he could about this place.

"Well, he has one real eye, but he also has this one eye that glows red." Kisame stopped to swallow.

"How come he only has one real eye?"

"I don't know."

"How come his other eye glows red?"

"I don't care."

"How come-"

"Do us a favor," Kisame began, "and shut up."

Naruto did so. The silence continued to build up in the room. Naruto, who felt a bit insecure being around all of these new people, slowly began to eat again. He discovered that the food was good. If he couldn't have his ramen, then this food was just as good.

Speaking of ramen…

"Do they serve ramen here?"

"No."

Naruto internally swore.

* * *

For the next three chapters, there will be some time jumps. They will be Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3. Year 1 and 3 focus on Naruto and Hinata while Year 2 focuses on Konoha. Just to make sure you guys don't get lost. 


	17. Beginning of Year One

Hey all! Thanks for your reviews! It's a wonderful encouragement, plus there are some ideas that I can pull from them.

Demon-God: Sorry, but Naruto doesn't get a Fuuma Shuriken. You may say that the weapon I am about to give him is a rather odd choice, but I thought it made sense.

deathtraps: I don't remember hinting which weapon he would get in the previous chapter. I guess it was unintentional.

A/N: More likely than not, when I post the next chapter, it will be in the rated R section. That's because I'm heavily considering a KakaKure lemon, plus tossing in another lemon for a different pairing. Just a warning. But I will definitely have a NaruHina lemon.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Beginning of Year One

From the dawn of time, humanity has made weapons of all kinds. Spears, swords, and knives are just a few of them. Sometimes, you will come across a strange weapon. Take the zanbatou as an example. It's a large sword that normally requires two hands to hold. It was made to not only kill a horse rider, but also the horse as well. However, due to its uncannily large size and weight, it was rumored that no one could truly master it. Thus, because the weapon was too difficult to use, the zanbatou was never used as a weapon again.

Encyclopedia Ninja states that the first weapon ever made was the spear. Cavemen, who used it to hunt wild game, first made it. Its length was long enough so that the wielder could attack without putting himself in too much danger.

What is ironic is that the first weapon ever made, the spear, is also considered the most useful. It offers range, and often there is a feather to confuse the enemy. It is easy to wield and it's also fast.

Weapons also come in different shapes and sizes. Whips with barbs, katars, and maces, just about everything can be used as a weapon. You could even use a heavy book.

And now, Naruto was walking back to the weapons smith. It was just after breakfast. After meals, there was a slot of free time. And since Naruto wanted to have a weapon, he decided to use the time to get one.

Once he got to the door, he opened it. And inside, there was the blacksmith. The man looked up, and smiled. "I see that you're back."

"Yeah," Naruto said, "and I want to try the orb thing again." The man nodded, and handed the orb to Naruto. Naruto once again held the orb in his hand. It stretched and grew, but not even a minute later, it became an orb once again.

"I see that the orb still rejects you." The old man was about to take the orb from Naruto, but then he stopped. "You're very keen on having a weapon, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's just not fair," Naruto gave off a sigh. The man smiled.

"Why don't you keep the orb?" Naruto looked up with a smile.

"Thanks." Naruto was about to leave, but the man called out to him.

"Don't be discouraged if the orb refuses to become a weapon. Usually, that means that the person who was holding the orb already has a weapon." Naruto looked at the man.

"But I don't have a weapon."

"I'm sure that you do. Otherwise, the orb should have taken a shape. Perhaps you just have to find out what you're weapon is." Naruto nodded and left the smithy. Wandering back through the hallways, Naruto took some time to examine the place. Torches were put up, casting eerie shadows on the walls. They were placed at set distances from each other. It looked like they were about his arm span from each other. He went to a wall and tested his theory. Setting down the sphere, he stood in the center and raised his hands out to his side.

However, his hands did not touch either torch. Puzzled by this, Naruto walked back to his room.

After getting lost once or twice, Naruto got back to his room. He thought about where to put the sphere. He decided to put it on the cabinet's top. But he couldn't reach it, so he used his tail to put it up there.

Naruto almost dropped the sphere. _'So these are my weapons…'_ Naruto smiled to himself, seeing how foolish he was. His tails were like a spear and a whip put together. Except that they could do more than a spear of whip. Naruto left the room and was greeted by Kisame.

"Naruto, I'm going to show you around the Akatsuki complex. Please follow me." Naruto nodded and followed after Kisame. Naruto decided to ask Kisame some questions.

"How come the torches look like they're placed about five feet away from each other, but when I raise out my hand's like this," Naruto raised out his hands, "my hands don't come close to touching the torches?"

"That's because there is no natural light. It creates the illusion that the torches are close to each other. But in truth, they're about ten feet away from each other," Kisame said. He inwardly hoped that Naruto would stop asking questions.

Naruto, however, continued to ask. "What's the leader's name? He seems really mysterious and all."

"Well, no one really knows what the leader's true name is."

"Does he go by another name?"

"Well, there is another name that he goes by."

"What is it?"

"Rugal."

"Rugal?" Naruto was puzzled. "What kind of a name is Rugal?"

"I don't know, and it would be nice if you stopped asking me questions I can't answer." Naruto stayed silent. They continued to walk down the long corridors. Then Kisame stopped in front of a double door.

"This is our first stop: the Library." Kisame opened the door and walked in. Naruto was awestruck by how many bookshelves there were.

"That's a lot of bookshelves," Naruto commented. Each bookshelf reached to the ceiling. There were moving ladders that allowed the searcher to reach high-up books. The bookshelves spanned about one hundred diameters. Of course, that was with the illusion thing going on. There were books crammed into each bookshelf. There were large ones and small ones. There were also some tables. There was one person at a table, but Naruto paid little attention to him.

"We have encyclopedias, magazines, story books, and many other famous works, like Icha Icha Paradise, by the famous Jiraiya."

The perverted sennin's name brought back images of the old man. _'I wonder how he's doing…'_ Naruto thought. Then he felt a dull poking feeling in his stomach. After a while, he felt like his feet were really hot. But then the feeling stopped shortly after.

But then Naruto got the strangest feeling. It was as if something very big was about to happen.

It felt like there was this giant pair of scissors hanging in the air that was about to give him one gigantic haircut.

But that feeling left shortly after.

"Well, now we're going to go see the training room."

_**Itachi and Hinata**_

"Itachi-sensei, w-where are we going?" Hinata asked. She had no idea what was going on, and she felt lost and scared.

"We're going to the library," Itachi said. They continued to walk in silence. Finally, they reached a pair of large double doors. Itachi opened them, and Hinata almost gasped at its size. "Come with me."

The pair walked down one of the aisles. Itachi then climbed up a ladder and moved himself to the HO section. "Hmm… How to Bake Good Cookies, How to Become Better as a Ninja, _How To Be The Best Cooker With Jutsus_…" Itachi continued to sift through the books. "Here we go. How to Boost Self Confidence," Itachi took the book out and handed it to Hinata.

Hinata looked at the book. It looked fairly new. The binding was still intact, and the pages seemed to be fine. She looked up at Itachi.

"I want you to read one chapter from this book everyday. I'll know whether you've been reading it or not, so don't try to fake it." Hinata nodded. Itachi looked around.

"Well, since we're already here, I may as well tell you about the library. We have over one hundred thousand books in here. The books are in alphabetical order so it should be pretty easy to find what you're looking for once you get the hang of it. We have many famous works, like Icha Icha Paradise, and also fictional stories. Now come with me."

They left the library and once again they set off through the long hallways. They stopped at a door. They entered the room. There was a table. Itachi opened the cupboards and took out some fancy kitchenware. It was comprised of glass cups, wineglasses, fine china, and some other things. Itachi turned to Hinata.

"As you can see, I have set out some kitchenware," Hinata nodded. "I want you to use your pent up anger and break them. Or you can use your kunais to break them." Hinata was surprised that Itachi would ask her to do this.

"What, you don't know how to throw a kunai?" Itachi asked. "It's simple. You just take a kunai and…" Itachi went through one of his pockets. "Damn it, where are they?" He looked in his other pockets, and found no kunais. "Oh well, I'll just use this book." Itachi took out his Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two and threw it through a wine glass. The book lodged itself in the wall. "See? Simple."

"I-Itachi-sensei, are you sure I should break them? I-I mean, it's expensive stuff." Hinata had come from a high family, thus they often had expensive items, very much like what was on the table.

"Hinata, we are the Akatsuki. We can afford _anything_." Hinata still didn't do anything.

"Hinata, you are to start breaking them now. Otherwise," Itachi pulled out a miniature Naruto doll, "I will hurt Naruto." Hinata looked at the doll.

"Er… I-Itachi-sensei, that's a doll."

"No, it's a chakra doll. I can do anything to this doll, and the same thing will affect Naruto." Itachi poked the doll in the stomach. "Now start braking things."

Hinata didn't believe him. But there was a feeling in the back of her head that told her that Naruto was being poked in the stomach. Itachi poked the doll a few more times in the stomach. Seeing as to how it didn't work, Itachi struck up a match and put it below the doll's feet. Hinata still didn't do anything. She didn't believe in such foolish little things. This… chakra doll seemed like something only little children would believe in.

Seeing that his tactic wasn't working, Itachi put out the match and picked up a pair of scissors off of the counter. He started to open and close them, open and close them in a slow and tormenting way. Hinata's eyes were glued to the pair of scissors. Slowly, while still opening and closing them in the same torturous manner, he brought it close to Naruto's hair. Hinata's heart began to thump like crazy. Of course, she didn't know the secret behind Naruto's hair (See Chapter Ten).

Not wanting to endanger Naruto in case what Itachi was saying was true, she grabbed a wineglass and threw it at the wall. Itachi smiled, put the down scissors, and put away the chakra doll.

"Continue breaking them," Itachi said. Hinata grabbed a plate. Before she threw it, she thought about things that made her angry. There was her clan. And… that was all. She thought about how much her father mistreated her. After Hinata's mother died, all she could remember her father doing was berating her for being so weak. She couldn't find it in herself to hate him. But she knew that he made her angry. She threw the plate at the wall, which shattered much like the wineglass she threw earlier.

She picked up a glass cup and this time, she thought about Hanabi. The way she smiled at Hinata when Hanabi beat her. She was so smug, so pompous. Hinata would prove that she was stronger than her. Then, she would… she didn't really know what she would do after that. But first things first, she threw the glass cup at the wall. She turned to Itachi.

"H-How does this help me?" she asked. She failed to notice that her voice was just a little louder than before.

"Well, it uses your anger to help fuel yourself. As you have seen with my little brother, using hate to fuel yourself is dangerous. So I decided that you should use your anger instead. In the battlefield, try not to let your emotions get in the way. But when training, use your anger instead. It also helps with your self confidence a bit."

Hinata nodded in understanding, and picked up another wineglass. Itachi's ring glowed again. "Hinata, I have to go. When you finish breaking the stuff here, you may go back to your room or go back to the library. Remember, lunch is at 12:30 pm and dinner is at 6:30 pm." Itachi left the room. Hinata threw the wine glass, which shattered. But she wanted to see how the book was able to go through the dish. She walked over to it, and dislodged it from the wall. She examined the book, and found out that it was a seemingly ordinary one.

At least there was nothing out of the ordinary. It turned out that Itachi's version of Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two was also a super-limited edition. The title on the cover was the color of gold. The paper's edge was bordered in gold. Just about everything on the book had some sort of gold thing going on. It also said on a sticker that it came with complimentary tissues and fully gold figurines of the two people on the front cover, fully pose-able.

As she expected, the figurines and tissues were gone.

She looked at the cover. It stated that it was called Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition. Having lived a rather sheltered life, she never knew that the Icha Icha Paradise series were actually adult books. She opened it and started reading.

_**Kisame and Naruto**_

"So who are the other members?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I don't know their full names, but they go by the names of Yamazaki, Yashiro, Leona, Vice, Mature, Chris, and Shermie. So far, I only know where Ryuji comes from, the Village of Stone. The rest don't have headbands, but are powerful ninjas. More likely than not, they can beat you in one hit at your current level of ability." They reached the training room. Kisame opened the door and the pair entered.

The training room had a set of weights, a separate room for meditation, and some training logs. It was about the same size as the library, but Naruto couldn't really say because of the illusion thing. Naruto had been expecting something that would strike amazement in his heart, but the room was rather simple. There was also a swimming pool in a connected room. Having never learned to swim before, he put the thought of the swimming pool aside.

"Most of the members use the training room during their free time, except for Yamazaki. He prefers to read rather than train, but he's already very powerful. Sometimes you'll find him in here, but usually he'll be in the library." Naruto nodded and Kisame brought him out of the room.

"Well, that's about all I can show you for now. I'm going to go train. See you around. You're free for the rest of the day. Lunch is at 12:30 pm and dinner is at 6:30 pm." Kisame reentered the training room. Naruto decided that he wanted to check out the library some more. Walking back through the halls, he found himself at the double doors. He opened them, and then walked in.

He walked down one of the aisles and spotted some children's stories. It was fairly large. Having never had parents before, he was never told any stories. He picked it up off of the shelf, walked over to a table, and started reading. He noticed that there was another person in the library, but he assumed that the person was Yamazaki.

That was what happened that day, more or less. Naruto had managed to get through several stories in the book. It turned out that each story was rather long. Naruto believed that each story was told in parts, one part each night. It was 10:30 pm now. Taking the book, he placed went to place it in its proper place. But he found it difficult. Still holding on to the book, he went to the exit. As he got close, he noticed that there was a bin that read 'Place books here.'

Naruto did so and left the library. In his opinion, the day had been rather uneventful. All he did was read, read, and read. He could have trained, but decided that he didn't even know how Itachi and Kisame would train him, so he thought it was wiser to not train for now. He thought about Hinata.

She didn't eat much of a breakfast, but he did see her during lunch and dinner. However, each time he saw her, there was what seemed to be a red line going down from her nose. Also, she was constantly blushing now. Naruto shrugged. He would ask her tonight. He reached the door to their room.

_**Hinata**_

It was a dirty book. She knew that much about it.

Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition was a dirty book. In fact, it would make the most sense if the entire Icha Icha Paradise series were dirty books. It had been a mistake for her to read it. However, Hinata found that she could not pull herself away from the book. It was not that the book was dirty and that she enjoyed reading dirty books. No, if Naruto discovered that she read dirty books, she felt like she would die.

It was that the story was so well written, that she had to find out what happens in the next chapter.

She had promised herself to give it back to Itachi, but she found it increasingly difficult to do so when she got into the first few chapters. She let her mind wander back to the book, which was now in deep within one of her Akatsuki coat pockets. She had been secretly reading it in the library. She carried around some tissues from the bathrooms scattered around the complex to help stop the ever-increasing amount of blood that was coming from her nose.

It was about 11:30 at night. Slowly, Hinata made her way through the long hallways to her room. It was difficult to tell whether it was night or day, as there were no windows. But seeing that all of the members did not have pale skin, she assumed that they were often out on missions. It was just today that they were all here. However, the complex had a lot of clocks. In fact, the library had two of them, one at one end, and the other at the far end.

Her mind wandered back to a certain part in chapter three. She remembered it all too well. She ran the words through her head.

'_He gently held her close to him. He could feel her nipples against his chest as he took her lips in a deep kiss. They were wearing very little, their undergarments being the only pieces of clothing they had on right now. His hands crept from her shoulders to the base of her back. She moaned into his mouth, her skin tantalized by his touch. Slowly, he snaked his right hand to her stomach and…'_

Hinata had to stop and take out a tissue from her pocket. She dabbed the area below her nose, which had a trickle of blood coming out of it.

Would Naruto do these kinds of things with her when they got married?

Would Naruto do these kinds of things with her _before_ they got married?

Hinata could only imagine what they would do together. The sound of footsteps behind her caused Hinata to turn around.

It was Itachi. "Hinata, have you seen my Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two? It's a book about this big and this tall." Itachi used his hands to show Hinata the size of the book. Hinata's right hand went into right pocket. Should she surrender the book to Itachi now and never find out what happens in chapter four? Or should she do otherwise?

Should she lie to Itachi, telling him she hadn't seen it? She had never lied before to anyone in her life. Perhaps it was because she thought that it wasn't a nice thing to do. But now, she was caught making a difficult decision. What would her father think if she lied to Itachi?

Her father wouldn't think anything about her. He didn't care about her. He only cared about the Hyuuga pride. He only cared for Hanabi, the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. For all he knew, she was dead.

Well screw her father, she told herself.

"No, Itachi-sensei, I haven't seen your book." For some reason, defying her father made her feel a lot better.

"Oh. Okay. I'll just get a copy from the library." Itachi walked away from Hinata in the direction she just came from, mumbling about how he wasted ten thousand yen on the Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition and how Kisame probably stole it. Arriving at her room, she opened the door and walked in. Naruto was in his nightclothes, which was black with little red clouds, and was about to tuck himself in when he looked up at her. He put on a small smile.

"Hi, Hinata-chan," he said. He got up and kissed her cheek. The kiss brought back the dirty words from the book. Hinata had to tell herself to think clean thoughts. Blushing, she kissed his cheek in return.

"I'm going to take a shower. You go to sleep first," Hinata said as she walked to the bathroom door. There was something different about Hinata, Naruto could tell that much. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Naruto did try to get some sleep, but he found it very difficult to do so when there was something grinding away at the back of your head. How had Hinata changed? It didn't seem to be a physical change. Naruto was still thinking about this when Hinata stepped out of the shower with her nightgown on and with her day clothes in her hands. It just so turned out that her nightgown was also black with little red clouds.

Slowly, Hinata got into bed and lay next to Naruto. She found it difficult to sleep also. She had forgotten to do something. What did she forget? Before she could remember, Naruto interrupted her train of thought.

"So how was your day?"

"It was… rather uneventful," Hinata said just above her normal speaking voice. Naruto still had difficulty finding out what was different about her. "What about you? What did you do?

"Oh. Well, Kisame-sensei showed me around the place. They have this huge library, with all these books. Then he showed me the training room."

"What did the room look like?" Hinata asked.

"Well, it looks just like a regular training place. There's nothing too special… Well, there is a pool, but I don't know how to swim."

"Oh." Hinata's mind traveled back to the doll incident with Itachi. Was anything about the doll true?

"Naruto-kun, did anything… weird happen to you today?" Hinata asked. She held her breath and looked at Naruto.

"Well… no, I don't think so."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, wait, there was this one time shortly after breakfast." Hinata held her breath again and once more looked at him. "For a short while, I felt like I was being poked in the stomach." Hinata cringed. "Then it felt like there was a fire beneath me." Hinata wanted to just duck under the covers. "But then there was this eerie feeling, like this gigantic pair of scissors were going to drop out of the air and give me one big haircut." The last explanation was bad enough.

What made it even worse was the fact that Naruto had even used his hands to gesture the fashion in which the scissors would be cutting his hair.

His hair would look like a flat plane.

"Why do you ask?" Naruto turned to Hinata.

"Umm… No reason."

"Oh. Okay. I guess I'll go to sleep now. You should too. You don't look so great right now." Naruto leant over to give Hinata a kiss on the lips. "Goodnight, Hinata-chan."

"Goodnight Naruto-kun." With that, Naruto put his head on his pillow, pulled the covers over him, and went to sleep.

Hinata also placed her head on the pillow and also pulled the covers over her. But instead of sleeping, she waited and listened until she heard Naruto's steady breathing. Contrary to what she thought before, Naruto didn't snore.

The steady breathing she was waiting for came in a few minutes. Carefully rising, she went over to her Akatsuki coat, and pulled out Itachi's Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition. She got into bed once more. Then she realized that she needed to grab some tissues. She did so carefully and climbed silently into bed. Finally, she began to read Itachi's Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition.

_**The Next Day**_

"Hey! Wake up!" Itachi said, banging on the door. Kisame stood next to him, his Samehada lying on his shoulder. It was 4:30 in the morning. He heard footsteps. The door opened and Naruto's tired face stared back at him.

"Itachi-sensei," Naruto said, "it's only 4:30 am. Why did you have to wake us up so early?"

"Early? You call this early? When I was your age, I woke up at 3 am! Now change and get moving." Naruto simply nodded and went back. Kisame looked at Itachi.

"Did you really wake up at 3 am back then?"

"No."

"Just making sure."

After a few minutes, the two teenagers stepped out of the room, tired and in their day clothes. "Come on. We're going to the weight room." With that Itachi led them to the weight room.

When they got there, Itachi opened the door.

Now remembering the library and training room, Naruto and Hinata expected it to be a gigantic, fancy place to lift weights.

Instead, it was more like a storage closet. Itachi walked in and picked up two stacks of four weights. Each weight looked like the size of a wallet. Itachi handed one set to Kisame. Then started to put the weights into slots in Naruto and Hinata's clothing. One weight was put onto each arm and each leg. Naruto and Hinata found it difficult to move their hands and legs. Itachi then turned to the group.

"Okay you two, we've put some weights onto your outfit. It'll help you with your stamina, strength, and eventually chakra capacity. And don't use your chakra yet." They both nodded. "We're starting you out with one hundred pounds each."

"One hundred pounds? Are you trying to kill us?"

"Hey! When I was your age, I carried around eight hundred pounds! Keep your mouth shut!"

Hinata, a bit grouchy over the fact of waking up so early and putting on these weights, said, "At your age, you killed your entire clan." Itachi immediately looked at her. Hinata began to cower behind Naruto, who had instinctively moved in front of her to protect her in case things got out of hand. For that short moment, Itachi simply wanted to go cry in a corner, remembering the painful memories that Hinata brought back to him. But instead, Itachi smiled.

"I see that you've been reading your book, Hinata." She gave a sigh of relief as Itachi turned around. "Now let's go. You're training begins now." Itachi and Kisame began to walk. Hinata and Naruto followed with difficulty.

Kisame whispered to Itachi, "Did you really carry around eight hundred pounds at their age?"

Itachi whispered, "Yes."

Kisame whispered, "Damn."


	18. Middle of Year Two

URGHXORISHNESS! I'm so sorry for the long update! Lemon scenes are difficult to make and even harder when making two of them! But this chapter is seventeen pages long, so it makes up for it. Thank you for your patience! Either way, it's time for reviews!

Raven11: I'm sorry, but Rugal fits the description of who I would think the leader of the Akatsuki would be. I mean, he's evil, and just doesn't seem to die. You can't argue against that very easily.

Timeshifter: No, no, no. You must remember that I am the author, not you.

sephynarutocloud: If you think that's suspenseful, think again.

Monaki-cheung: I'm sorry if you think so, but I needed to show how the character change in Hinata takes place whileexplaining the environment of the place.

A/N: I have decided to write the KakaKure lemon, along with another lemon scene. So therefore, it is rated R.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic sex scenes. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Middle of Year Two

The other shinobi stood at the edge of the arena, across from him. Both were tired, panting, and out of chakra, but had an unquenchable will. Some blood was visible from the arms and shoulders, and a bit was also coming out of the mouth. But it wasn't much, and each shinobi was not in danger of dying.

It was a standoff. The entire crowd was silent in expectation of what would happen. And when strength is not enough to determine the winner, wits become the deciding factor.

'_This has to work,'_ the shinobi thought. He started to do hand seals. And he kept doing hand seals. And he kept doing them, and doing them, and doing them. He appeared to be preparing one powerful jutsu. The crowd began to inch closer to the edge of their seats, waiting for the jutsu to come out.

But it didn't. The man just kept doing hand seals.

The second shinobi rushed in, seizing the opportunity. Running, he took a leap into the air and prepared his fist to strike.

But suddenly, the first shinobi flung shurikens out of his hands, which were thought to have been doing hand seals. The second shinobi, unable to stop, put up his hands over his head and pulled in his legs to defend himself from the rain of deadly metal.

They flew by, grazing his cheek, arms and legs.

But his mistake had been putting his hands over his head.

The first shinobi, taking the opportunity of the second shinobi being unable to see, had leapt up to meet the falling shinobi in combat.

When the Shinobi Number Two had opened his eyes, they were greeted with one fierce punch to the cheek.

The crowd oohed and ahhed at the vicious punch, wincing as the second shinobi, who flew quite a distance, landed with a vicious thud. The referee, with his long toothpick in his mouth, walked over to the fallen shinobi.

From what he could tell, the fallen shinobi would not be waking up without a visit to the famous Konoha Hospital that was said to have been made by the first Hokage himself.

Smiling, the man with the toothpick stood up and smiled. Raising his arm, he brought it down, pointing at the shinobi who had defeated his opponent.

"Shousa, Umino Iruka."

Often, after a tiring day of training, a shinobi will become hungry. It's just simple nature that this process happens. One works hard, one gets hungry. And so, often, the shinobi will either go home to eat, or go out and eat in the city, often with a group of friends or a loved one.

Though it is not meant to be a restaurant guide, Encyclopedia Ninja lists all of the famous restaurants in the village. In the Konoha version, there are some fancy restaurants listed. And though it's not a fancy restaurant, the Ichiraku Ramen, amazingly, is also among the famous restaurants of Konoha. But there is one that was taken off of the list by the owner of a restaurant. The restaurant's famous, but it is a rather selective one, allowing only certain members of society, both of Konoha and other villages.

Deep within the alleyways of Konoha, there lies a bar. It's not very well known, but some people know where it is. Having been around since the first Hokage's time, it's a selective bar, allowing in only certain people. There, people could blow off steam and complain about things. They can drink until dawn, or they can eat some food. It's a social place. Parties are often held there and the bar is held in high esteem for its famous way of serving.

Whenever someone orders something, his or her order is connected to a spinning rack. The rack spins and then the chefs there make the order. And then, with amazing precision and accuracy, one of the chefs launches the food out from a hole in the wall. The food is then caught by the bartender and served to the customers.

Welcome back to the Jounin Bar. As the name states, it only allows jounins to enter, though it does allow some chuunins who were invited. It's not difficult to know why this bar is not too well known. Not everybody makes it to the jounin level. But some people do.

Sometimes, the Jounin Bar will have great parties, lasting until tomorrow morning. That was another thing that made the bar famous: when there is a party at the Jounin Bar, they party hard. When there's a party at the Jounin Bar, that's when the owner takes out the good sake, fermented just long enough, and the good food and labels each of it at half the original price. And they still manage to make a profit. That's another reason why it was put onto Encyclopedia Ninja's list of famous restaurants.

Today was a wonderful reason for the people at the Jounin Bar to throw one of its famous nightlong parties. The Jounin Exam had just finished. It was time to welcome the new jounins, and invite all of the chuunins who got up to the final stage.

Though it's mostly just a party where people can lay back and relax, it also helps with the international affairs. People can set aside what village they come from and just make new friends. In fact, the Hokages have supported this idea, and will often visit the parties that the bar will throw.

For some reason, more chuunins choose to enter the Jounin Exam when it's being held in Konoha instead of, for example, the Suna. The party at the Jounin bar probably explains why.

During these great parties, it's tradition that the friends, which there are probably many by now, of the new jounin are to get the new person very, very drunk by continually buying them drinks. Of course, the new person doesn't pay. But the new person is to become very drunk.

As of right now, Iruka was very, very drunk. He was promoted to jounin for placing first in the exam. Anko was next to him, who just also happened to have been promoted to jounin because of her outstanding performance during the exam. She was also very, very drunk.

The very, very drunk Anko stood up and wobbled around before placing a hand onto Iruka's. Then, in a very drunk manner, she whispered something into Iruka's ear. Iruka, though very, very drunk, still managed to blush as he stood up slowly. Then, the very, very drunk Anko led a very, very drunk Iruka up the stairs to the rooms that were oh so conveniently provided for very, very drunk people.

Another tradition during these kinds of parties were that often the newcomer and his friends got so drunk, that, more likely than not, he or she was dragged up by a drunk friend of the opposite sex. Then they would, more likely than not, have sex.

However, there were only two exceptions to the tradition of the Jounin Bar. Their stories are famous within it.

The first exception was Hatake Kakashi, who was too young to drink and wasn't even allowed into the Jounin Bar because he was too young. Instead, they held the party at his apartment. They brought no alcohol, but instead brought things that Kakashi found interesting at that time.

The second exception was Yuuhi Kurenai. Though she was old enough, she was too afraid of what would happen if she got drunk. So she avoided drinking that night.

But now, here were the two jounins who have drank enough sake not to be drunk, but enough to let the alcohol interfere a bit with their judgment. Kakashi found that he and Kurenai had constantly been eying each other. Of course, Kakashi's view tended to droop down a bit to her breasts, but he quickly picked them back up. Kurenai, of course, simply blushed and stared back at Kakashi's beautiful face. As written in the annals of Hatake tradition, he was no longer wearing his mask, though his right eye was still covered by his forehead protector to cover up his Sharingan Eye. He blushed under her stare and drank some more of his sake.

Then, finally giving in, she walked next to him, and whispered something into his ear. Kakashi almost spit out his sake as his face reddened.

"A-Are you sure you want to do that, Kurenai-chan?" Kurenai simply gave him a sexy smile and then kissed him.

"We're going to get married anyway," Then she slowly walked up the stairs, giving a coaxing look at Kakashi. Then she exited out of his sight.

Kakashi looked at the sake in his hand.

He downed it, threw it against the wall where it shattered into many pieces, and then rushed upstairs.

Throwing your sake bottles at the wall was also another tradition. During the party, even some people had a limit, though most won't admit to it. So, in order for other people to know when someone ought to stop drinking, the person would throw their sake cup at a target drawn on the wall. If they hit it, they can still drink. If not, the bartender put a stamp that read 'Drunk' onto the person's hand. Then, if the person who was drunk asked for another drink, the bartender would know to not serve them. This method has also been around since the times of the first Hokage.

Kurenai was waiting at the top of the staircase. When Kakashi got there, she wrapped her arms around him and began to plant kisses on his face. Kakashi returned the kisses and planted them on her jaw line.

Eventually, they stopped their kissing and looked up at the surroundings. Having never been up here, it would make sense that they should find out what the rooms upstairs actually looked like.

The staircase was in the middle of the room. There, the place branched off in each direction of the compass rose for about fifteen feet. At each end, there was a door on the right side. On each door, there was a light, either a red one or a green one. From what Kakashi had heard from other jounins was that when the light was red, it was occupied.

So far, there was only one room that was occupied. _'That must be where Iruka and Anko are…'_ Kakashi thought. Kurenai then dragged him to the north path. They opened the door, entered, and then they closed it. The room was rather dim, but there was enough light for them to see each other. There was a table with a condom package next to the bed, and a trashcan was close to where the door was. Kurenai wore a smile and went and took a seat on the bed while Kakashi locked the door. He then turned around and took a seat next to Kurenai.

And they stayed like that. They didn't move. They just sat there. At first, Kurenai had no idea what was going on. But then she realized that Kakashi was a virgin and had no idea how sex was performed, despite all the perverted books he had read.

Now Kurenai was also a virgin. And she knew a bit about how sex went. But she was also a bit afraid, as it was her first time too. She turned to Kakashi, wearing an understanding smile. Kakashi simply faced the door. "Nervous, Kakashi-kun?" he nodded, a blush falling upon his face. "It's okay. Everyone has to start somewhere."

"Easy for you to say. I'm a virgin here," Kakashi muttered. Kurenai leant in and kissed his cheek.

"Well, so am I." There was silence. Kurenai thought for a moment, and then she got her answer to the problem.

"Kakashi-kun, you used to read those Icha Icha Paradise books, right?" Kakashi, thinking back to those days, nodded.

The reason why Kurenai said 'used to' was because Kakashi was no longer reading smutty books. He had told her that it reminded him too much of days spent with his Team Seven and he wished to get over those days. And gradually, he began to read less and less of those perverted books until one day he just put it in his shelf to let it gather dust. Jiraiya was a bit saddened that he lost one of his most faithful readers, but he could understand. He himself had lost a bit of his drive to write perverted novels himself. Though he still wrote them, he simply came out with new novels less often.

"Well, perhaps we can," Kurenai carefully said, "use one of the bed scenes." Kakashi slowly turned his head to face Kurenai. "You do remember how one of the sex scenes go, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Well, pick your favorite, and we'll start from there." Kakashi nodded, and then told her to stand up. She did so. "If it helps, say the words out loud."

"A-Alright." Kakashi, remembering back to those days, went to his favorite sex scene in the entire series. "G-Gently, he placed his hands around her waist." He did so, feeling a little bit insecure. "He then placed a gentle kiss at the back of her neck." Kakashi did so too. Kurenai simply closed her eyes and let Kakashi do the work.

"'Can I call you mine?' he asked." Kakashi asked Kurenai. "She didn't respond verbally, but she traced her hands around his, which were on her waist." Kurenai did her part. "Then, she turned to face him," Kurenai turned. "She gave him a kiss on his neck while her hands roamed over his chest." She did that too.

"'I think you know the answer to that,' she told him." Kurenai said her line. Kakashi smiled, and then continued. "Then slowly, he… he…" Kakashi gulped, blushed, and then continued, "H-He slid off her button-up blouse." With some help from a blushing Kurenai, Kakashi managed to slip off the top portion of her clothing, revealing a rather lacy bra that accentuated her breasts.

Upon seeing that, lust filled up within Kakashi. He decided that enough was enough. If he was going to have sex, there was no way that he would act it out like a scene from a book. He and Kurenai would have a spontaneous evening. It wouldn't be planned out.

Of course, Kakashi had no idea on how to do it, but he at least figured out one thing. And that was to let his hands roam.

Kurenai, however, thought that Kakashi was beginning to doubt himself. "Kakashi-kun, you're not stopping, are you?" but she was cut off by a kiss. At that point, Kakashi let his right hand settle onto her left breast and gave it a soft squeeze. She opened her mouth and moaned, which let Kakashi slip his tongue inside her mouth. Their tongues battled each other until they had to pull apart to breathe.

"Who said I was stopping?" Kakashi answered. His hand was still on her breast, so he squeezed it again. "I'm just straying from the book." She moaned and Kakashi kissed her neck. Seeing that Kakashi was beginning to get the idea of sex, she decided that she should begin, too. She used her hands to remove Kakashi's jounin vest. He let his hands go free from her body, but instantly placed them back at their previous place and he set his lips back onto her neck. Then she let the vest lightly drop to the floor. Letting her hands travel over Kakashi's black shirt, she felt his muscles underneath them.

Now, Kakashi decided to use his other hand. Hooking his thumb through the waistband of her pants, Kakashi slowly brought them sliding down her legs. Kurenai was unaware of this because Kakashi's right hand was still lightly squeezing her breast and she was moaning. She didn't notice until Kakashi used his other hand and began to rub them up and down the inside of her thighs. Her moans came out a little louder as she kicked her pants aside.

But Kurenai wouldn't let him do all the undressing. She undid Kakashi's pant button, and undid his fly. There, she purposely gave a slight brush to his erect member, causing him to flinch a little, but then he resumed what he was doing. Using her thumb, she hooked the inside of his boxers and pulled down, leaving the entire lower body of Kakashi naked. She blushed when she felt the tip of his member against her panties. Kakashi stepped out of his pants and resumed kissing Kurenai's neck. While he did so, Kurenai got a good look at his member. It wasn't too short, nor was it too long. Just long enough, she thought to herself.

Once more, Kakashi wrapped his hands around Kurenai's waist. He paused for a short breath before kissing her lips softly. She flitted her tongue over Kakashi's lips, which opened in response. She let her tongue roam the inside of his mouth, feeling every little detail in reach. Meanwhile, Kakashi's hands drifted up her back and undid the clasp of her bra. Then, using his left hand, he tossed it aside and began to lightly squeeze her right breast once more.

Then Kakashi decided that enough was enough. He reached over to a table that was next to the bed. He grabbed the condom package that was so conveniently placed there and put it on. Then, picking her up bridal style, he walked over to the bed and gently set her down on her back. While doing so, he got a good look at her. She was beautiful. Her red eyes gave her a sexy look that he simply could not resist. He climbed on top of her and took her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. While doing so, Kurenai tugged at Kakashi's shirt, signaling that she wanted it off of him. He removed it, and resumed kissing her. Then, he trailed his hand down her stomach in a slow manner, stopping his fingers above her waist.

Slowly, he slid his hand into her panties and fingered her opening. She blushed and moaned, making Kakashi want to take her more and more with each moan. Kurenai drew in her legs instinctively due to the pleasure she was receiving. To take her and then marry her was what he wanted. He removed the panties, leaving them both naked. He positioned himself so that the tip of his member was touching her opening. He looked at Kurenai, asking her for permission. She nodded. Then, in one swift thrust, he entered into her.

He looked at Kurenai, knowing that, since it was her first time, it would hurt. He could see her doing her best to deal with the pain. Her eyes were closed. Kakashi felt guilty to cause her pain. But then she opened them to look at Kakashi. She nodded at him to tell him to continue. He did so

During the first few thrusts, he could see that she was still in some pain, so he went slowly. But eventually, the pain on her face disappeared to show pleasure. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks gave off a blush. She moaned and put her thighs around Kakashi's waist. She began to uncontrollably thrust her hips against his, taking in his full length. He began to thrust into her faster and faster.

"Oh, Ka… Kakashi-kun…" she moaned as he began to quickly thrust into her. Kurenai wanted to scream out his name, but she found that her voice was not obeying her, only allowing her to say his name in a low moan. But that was enough for Kakashi.

"Kurenai-chan…" He said. He tried to warn her that he was coming. But instead, Kurenai's eyes opened fully to stare at his one open eye.

"Kakashi-kun!" she said, a little louder than her normal talking voice. She came as she said his name. Feeling her muscles constrict around him, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Kurenai-chan," he moaned as he came. With one last thrust, he felt himself coming. Then, tired, he supported himself with his hands and knees, his slowly softening member still inside of her.

They stayed in that position for a moment. Both were tired and out of breathe. Kakashi leant in to give Kurenai one last kiss on her cheek before he pulled out of her and laid on his side. Removing the condom, he tossed it into the trashcan. Then, he turned to look at her.

Under the dim light in the room, he could see a fine gleam of sweat on her skin. He looked at his skin, and there was sweat on it. As they cooled down, they felt cold. So, Kakashi tucked Kurenai into bed, and then he covered himself with the blankets. He turned his body to face Kurenai. She looked at him and smiled.

"I love you," he said. Kurenai leant in and gave him a kiss.

"I love you, too." Then, Kakashi wrapped his arms around Kurenai, who then turned herself so that she faced away from him so that it would be easier for Kakashi to hug her from the back. He kissed her cheek. Then, they fell asleep.

Unbeknownst to them, another couple, much younger than them, had also enjoyed premarital sex. But they didn't have to know.

_**The Next Morning**_

"So what's going on with Itachi? We haven't heard from him for a while," Kurenai asked. It was morning and Kakashi was holding Kurenai from the back.

"From what I've heard, he's still alive. Some ANBU from the Sand encountered him and wrote up a report, but that was about two weeks ago. What Yuki wants to know is why he hasn't been sending letters."

"No letters from Itachi?"

"Nope. No letters at all. She's worried whether he's stayed true to her or not."

"I'd be worried about that too."

"We both would."

Silence.

"What else did the Sand ANBU report?" Kurenai asked.

"Well, he said that Itachi was not only with Kisame, but also two unidentified Missing Nins. Apparently, they were Itachi and Kisame's pupils."

"Did anything stand out about them?"

"One was a boy, the other a girl. The girl carried a scythe and he couldn't get a good look at the boy. The girl had a slashed Konoha forehead protector covering her eyes. Apparently, the Sand ANBU defined the girl as the 'Death.'"

"Oh. Did they fight?"

"Yeah."

"What was the outcome?"

"… Only one survivor was able to get back."

"Did Itachi and Kisame fight also?"

"No, just the girl, but he was pretty sure that they boy fought too."

"How was the lone ANBU able to get back?"

"When his group was patrolling, he got stuck in quicksand and told his teammates to go on while he pulled himself out. When he went to catch up with his group, he saw the last of his teammates get cut in half by the girl's scythe. He hid his chakra as best as he could and they left, leaving him alone. It looks like he got lucky."

"I see."

Suddenly, a thundering boom was heard coming from the North gate.

_**Elsewhere**_

Hyuuga Neji was walking down the street. He was looking for a jewelry store. But Konoha didn't have very many of them, and he had no idea where to find one. Walking down the street, passing street vendors and whatnot, he stopped and sighed.

The reason as to why Hyuuga Neji was looking for a jewelry store was because he was going to get married. He needed an engagement ring to give to Tenten, whom he had just had a night of wonderful, passionate sex with.

She was perfect. She had grown a little in the past year, and she was now sixteen, old enough for men to come and ask for her hand in marriage. Though she still wore her hair in a bun and she still wore those Chinese shirts, they simply made her that much sexier. He thought that Tenten was a beautiful lady.

He also thought that he would never look at whip cream the same way again. Or bing cherries.

Taking his mind off of the whip cream and Bing cherries, he returned to the time when he lost his virginity to Tenten and how she was able to pull him out of his depression.

_**Flashback**_

"Neji, I will not force you to train. It is a sad time, for we have lost three youthful people." Gai was preaching about the importance of youth to Neji.

It was three days right after Hinata and Naruto had been listed as dead and Sasuke had been added to the list of Missing Nins. Feeling depressed, Neji hadn't been acting normally. He hasn't been able to train properly at all. He was like some zombie.

Tenten was worried. Not only was her boyfriend down in the dumps, it looked like he was getting worse. He was spiraling downwards deeper into his depression. It also looked like he hadn't been eating or sleeping much.

What worried her wasn't that Neji would become weak.

She was worried that he would kill himself.

"But sometimes, you must let your spirit die down a little, so that it may come back in full force!" and Gai's preaching did not help him at all.

And without a word, Neji walked off into the forest. He walked through the clearing they were in and came to a rather large fallen log. It had fallen recently because there was no sign of rot on it. He took a seat, propped his elbows onto his knees and sighed.

'_I may as well have killed her…'_ Neji thought. No matter how much he rationalized, he could not pin the fault on anyone else but himself. _'I have failed my duty as a Hyuuga Branch Member. She may not have been considered a Hyuuga… But she was my friend…'_ Neji thought back to the funeral of his friends.

There was no body to bury. Putting a crucifix into the ground with their names inscribed onto it was all they did. Neji could not cry. It was against the clan image to cry, whether in public or private. If a Hyuuga cried, the clan saw them as weak and that the person did not put enough time into their training.

Many people came to Hinata's funeral. Some of the people said a few words while others simply kept silent. But when Naruto's funeral began, many people walked off, leaving only those who remained of the Rookie Nine and their senseis, Gai's team and their sensei, the Konohamaru Corps, Iruka, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the Ichiraku Ramen chef along with his daughter. Some were there out of respect while others were there for their teammates.

Nobody said anything. Even though Naruto was annoying as ever, he still held a place in their lives. In a way, they didn't have to say anything. Their silence said everything for them.

'_At least Hinata-sama is with Naruto now,'_ Neji thought once more. He heard a sound coming from the bushes. He just waved the thought aside and began to stare at the ground. The sounds turned into footsteps as the person entered the clearing.

It was Tenten. "Why are you here?" Neji asked.

"I asked Gai-sensei if I could be excused, Neji-kun. Lee wanted to come also, but I told him that I should talk to you… alone," she walked closer, "Neji-kun…" She took a seat on the log next to Neji. "I know this is hard on you. But you've got to let go."

She loved Neji. She loved him so much, that it hurt her every time she saw Neji like this. It hurt her even more knowing that Neji was like now like this during every second of his life. The effect of his self-torture was surfacing. He was a walking wreck. He had bags under his eyes, signifying that he had been unable to sleep.

"That's easy for you to say," Neji said monotonously. "I feel like my life has no meaning now."

"Neji-kun, there are things more important than your clan obligations."

"Like what, Tenten-chan?"

"Well… there's love, marriage… other pleasurable things…" Tenten blushed at the end of her statement.

"There is no love for the Hyuuga Clan, and my marriage would probably be arranged."

"But there are still other pleasurable things in life."

"Like what? Show me, what kind of 'pleasurable things' are there?" Neji said in an angry voice.

"Well… there's sex…" Tenten blushed even harder. That was the first thing that came to her mind. Unaware to Tenten, Neji had never heard of the word sex. It's Hyuuga rules that any forms of sexual education were not to be heard by the ears of a Hyuuga. They say that it would throw the Hyuuga off of their concentration when they were dealing with enemy peers of the opposite sex, especially the men. Of course, Neji had no idea this rule existed. Only married Hyuuga men and women knew. For a Hyuuga to find out how sex works before they become married, it was considered as high treason to the clan, and the person would be executed before they could spread the information.

"Sex? What is this… sex? Why don't you show me?" Neji asked. Tenten blushed even harder.

"Weren't you there when Iruka talked about Human Growth and Development?" Neji shook his head. "Why weren't you there?"

"My uncle wouldn't let me go."

"Oh. So you have no idea how your body works?"

"Well, I know that if I work really hard, I feel hungry, and then I eat, a-'

"No, Neji-kun, not that kind. I'm talking about whether you know how to… umm… make babies," that was the only way that Tenten could put it.

"Oh, I know how babies are made. You see, there's this bird called a stork, and it dro-"

"No, Neji-kun! That is not how babies are made!" Tenten stood up, angered by Neji's innocence.

"Fine! Why don't you show me how babies are made?" Neji angrily said. He stood up to face Tenten. She blushed.

"Umm… maybe later."

"Okay, back to our original topic. What is pleasurable in life? You answered sex. And how is it pleasurable?" Neji walked up and leaned his back against a tree.

"Well… it's easier if I show you…"

"Okay, show me. What is sex?" Tenten gulped. She did not plan for the conversation to go in this direction. But, if it will help bring Neji out of the spiraling doom he falling into, she would do it. She would sacrifice it for him.

"Then I will need you to trust me. Do you trust me?" Neji nodded. Slowly, she undid her buns, which fell down to her shoulders. Then she walked up to Neji, raised her arms and put them around his neck. Then, she closed her eyes and kissed him.

At first, Neji was surprised. Wide-eyed and blushing, he looked at Tenten and tried to pull away. But she pinned him against the tree and her arms were around his neck, preventing him from getting away. She continued to kiss his lips. And then he felt it. Slowly, his member began to harden. Now Neji was freaked out. Here he was kissing Tenten, who looked strangely beautiful with her hair down and his body was acting funny. What had he missed during the days of Human Growth and Development?

Then, Tenten pulled away though her arms were still around his neck. She opened her eyes and stared into Neji's frantic ones. She noticed that he was blushing a shade that only Hinata had managed to blush. She leant in next to his ear and whispered, "Did you find that pleasurable?" in a voice that Neji had never heard her use before. Very weakly, Neji nodded. "That's what we call a kiss." She nibbled his ear, causing Neji to lightly moan. "Would you like to try something that you may also find pleasurable?" at that point she let her arm fall and she brushed her hand somewhat firmly across his fully hardened penis, causing him to jerk his body forward, his cheeks to blush, and his eyes to go even wider.

"…O-Okay," Neji replied weakly. Slowly, Tenten undid Neji's pants and slid them down, taking his boxers down with them.

'_Perhaps I won't have to lose my virginity yet…'_ thought Tenten as she knelt down so that her head was level with his fully erect member. Then, she gently took it in her right hand and licked the side of it. Neji lurched forward, the feeling driving him crazy. She continued to lick the sides, sometimes going from the base to the tip and some gentle squeezes. He looked around. Suddenly, he had a feeling that what he and Tenten were doing was wrong.

"T-Tenten-chan… are you sure that we should be… doing this?" his voice was filled with moans when he tried to talk to her. He closed his eyes so that maybe, just maybe, if he couldn't see it, it wouldn't happen.

"Yeah. I'm sure that we can do this." Tenten replied between licks. Then she began to suckle one side of it.

"But… what… what if someone sees us?"

"Then use your Byakuugan." Neji nodded, though with much difficulty.

"B… Byakuugan!"

Now there was some good news, and some bad news. The good news was that there was no one, as far as he could see. The bad news was that Tenten had tricked him.

No matter where he looked, he could see Tenten licking and suckling his member, which he did not know the proper name to. Then, he saw her blush and take the top half of his member into her mouth and she began to move her head up and down the length of it. Neji tried to ask what she was doing, but found it too hard, as his mouth would only allow moans to escape.

Neji moaned louder and louder. Suddenly, he felt the strangest and yet pleasurable feeling go through him. "Tenten-chan!" shuddering, he released his seed into her mouth. Tenten pulled her head off immediately and was greeted by another spurt of his seed onto her cheek. Neji deactivated his Byakuugan, too surprised to keep it activated. He was breathing heavily. "Tenten-chan, what's that white stuff on your cheek?"

"Oh, this?" Tenten brushed a finger over the semen, removing it from her cheek. "This is sperm." She, as Neji put it, then sexily licked the finger. After giving him oral sex, which he didn't even know was called that, Tenten felt strangely aroused. She put her hair back into two buns.

Neji got worried. "Are you sure you should be putting that in your mouth?" Tenten didn't answer. Instead, she put Neji's boxers and pants back on. Of course, she suggestively brushed her hand over his penis, causing him to shudder once more.

"You don't know very much about your body, do you?" Tenten asked.

"Well, after that… no." She smiled.

"Perhaps you would like to learn more about yourself?" Neji thought for a moment. Then he decided that it was for the best. If he didn't know how his body worked, then how would he be able to fight properly? Neji agreed, and then Tenten smiled. Gently grabbing his hand, she guided him to her house.

Her house was empty. Both of her parents were out on a mission and they wouldn't be back for several days. As she brought in Neji, she locked the door. "I need you to stay here for a moment." She went into her parents' room and looked in the drawers. She found what she was looking for.

"Come on, Neji-kun," she held lightly to his hand as she led him to her room. When she entered, she closed the door behind him. She undid her hair and then walked over to Neji. "Okay, since I don't have any diagrams… I'm going to need your body to show you." Neji nodded. "Good. Let's begin."

She put her hands onto Neji's shoulder. Then, she traced her hands down to his waist. She, for the second time, undid his pants and pulled them down. She then undid his shirt and removed it, leaving him completely naked. Neji blushed under Tenten's eyes. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you," _'yet,'_ Tenten thought. She lightly held Neji's member, which was slightly erect. Neji flinched a bit, but remained still. Slowly, it began to fully erect.

"This is a penis. When you feel… aroused, it becomes like this." She blushed a little and gently squeezed it, causing Neji to moan a little. Tenten enjoyed this feeling of being in control. He was putty in her hands. She found it almost humorous, but she held back her laugh. "When it becomes… pleasured enough, you experience something called an orgasm." Tenten found it very difficult to keep a straight face when using these words. "That's when the 'white stuff,' as you put it, comes out of your penis."

"Either way, it's time to move on to me." Tenten let go of Neji's member. Then, she removed her clothes until nothing was left on her. She held Neji's hand and gently guided it to her left breast. "These are breasts. Only girls and women have them. These things," Tenten pointed to her nipples, "are nipples. Go and take a feel." At first, Neji was apprehensive. But after some coaxing, Neji began to get a feel of it. Tenten began to blush and could not hold back her moans.

'_Her moans sounded a lot like mine,'_ thought Neji. He gave a gentle squeeze, resulting in a louder moan from Tenten. He continued his gentle squeezes, feeling her nipples slowly harden. Then, Tenten removed Neji's hand. Both of them were blushing.

"I need you to lie down on my bed, Neji-kun." He did so. There, she took the package that she grabbed from her parents' room. She opened it and took out a condom, though Neji had no idea what it was. She then put it over Neji's member. Slowly, she climbed over his body so that she was over him.

"This is a vagina, Neji," once more, Tenten found it difficult to keep a straight face. "And this is how children are made." Positioning herself, she crouched over his waist. Then, taking in a breath, she straddled him and took in his member.

Pain was evident through Tenten's eyes. Neji read her emotions like a book. "Tenten-chan, you're in pain." He tried to move, but Tenten held him down by placing her hands on his shoulders and putting her weight onto them.

"It always hurts the first time," she told him.

"But if it hurts, then we shou-" Tenten silenced him by moving herself up and down his member. Neji moaned helplessly as Tenten, the pain leaving her, also began to moan. Cheeks blushing of embarrassment, Neji found it difficult to keep himself still. Eventually, his natural instincts overcame him and he found himself uncontrollably thrusting into Tenten. It felt pleasurable to him. Neji once more found it difficult to breathe.

"Oh, Neji-kun!" she moaned. Her face was flushed with pleasure. Her breathing became ragged. The feeling raged through her as each push and pull brought her heart closer to his. Her arms feeling weak, her body fell onto his.

"Tenten-chan," Neji moaned. His hands went to her waist as he continued to push and pull out of her. Suddenly, Tenten's grip on his shoulders tightened as she half screamed and half moaned into his ear. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that the sudden burst of pleasure felt very pleasurable. And then there was that strange and yet pleasurable feeling again. Neji correctly assumed that it was an orgasm. Moaning her name into her ear, he came.

The pair rested like that. Neji found that 'making children,' as Tenten had called it, was just as tiring as a day of training. He gently held onto her.

"Neji-kun," he looked at her, "I… I know that what we just did here is something that normally only adults who are in love do. But I want you to know that… I love you. And…" Tenten gave off a sob, "seeing you in all that pain made me want to help you in any way possible." Several tears rolled from her eyes. Neji, for the strangest reason, had the conviction to wipe the tears from her face.

He did so.

"Earlier, you talked about not having anything to live for." Neji nodded. "I can offer you a solution: live on for me. If you died…" her voice trailed off, unable to continue her statement. Instead, she cried. And she cried for a little while. Neji simply held her.

"I know that I sound selfish. But please, live on for me." Neji's lips curled up into a small smile, one rarely anyone.

"Thank you for giving me a reason to live on." Tenten's face brightened, even though it was tear-streaked. "But, I do have a condition."

"And that is?"

"That you let me call you Ten-chan."

_**End Flashback**_

'_Thank you for helping me let go,'_ thought Neji. He continued on his walk to find the perfect ring for his Ten-chan.

Neji, however, discovered that he had no idea where a jewelry shop would be. So he decided to ask around. Turning his head, he spotted some pink hair. 'Yes, Sakura would know where to find one.'

He went over to her. Sakura was having a talk with Konohamaru. Apparently, she had bought for them selves a banana split with whip cream and a bing cherry. He did his best to ignore the fact.

"Ohayo, Sakura." She looked up and saw Neji. She smiled.

"Ohayo, Neji-san," she held up her banana split to him. "Do you want to try a piece? It's good."

"No thank you," Neji answered. "I'm sure it tastes good." _'But it tastes so much better when licked off of Ten-chan's body.'_ "Anyway, do you know where the closest jewelry shop is?"

"Hmm… There should be one north of here." Neji thanked her. He walked to the North. Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the North Gate. He saw a swift black blur. Then he remembered nothing more.

_**Sakura and Konohamaru**_

They were ready to fight. Kunais whipped out, they stood at ready against their opponent, who was dressed in a black outfit.

His master told him to avoid unnecessary casualties, as that would take up his time. That was why he didn't try to kill Neji. Instead, he went for his target.

"Sakura," the person said. He looked at her and she gasped.

It was a pair of Sharingan eyes. Uchiha Sasuke has come back.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke glared at her.

"Why do you still call me that? I thought I ruined your life."

"Y-You did… but no matter how hard I tried, I could not find it in myself to hate you. Deep down inside, I have a gut feeling that your brother did not kill your clan."

"How can you know that? I saw him kill our parents with my own eyes! You know nothing!" He was wasting time. Her guards could come back any second after they realized that the explosion was only made to be a distraction. "Haruno Sakura," Sasuke charged up his Chidori. "Die."

Sakura simply stood there as Sasuke charged. "Sakura-san!" Konohamaru yelled. "SAKURA-SAN!" Realizing that she was too much in a trance, he took matters into his own hands. _'Naruto-nii-san's old friend will die if I don't do something!'_ Konohamaru jumped in front of Sakura and put his hands into a seal.

* * *

I swear that you guys are going to swear at me, give me the finger andsend threats to me for ending this chapter like this.


	19. End of Year Three

I will now tell you why you are going to kill me: you wil not find out what happens with Konohamaru and Sasuke until the next chapter. Anyway, I thank you for your 60+ reviews. Each one spurs me to work harder.

Batanga: I keep reading that Anko is a chuunin and then a jounin. I got rather confused which one she actually is because I don't think the anime actually tells you. So I just put her as a chuunin because it would go well with the story.

Kuria Kitsune: There will not, I repeat, will not be a Konohamaru/Sakura pairing. She's too old for him and she is still overly attached to Sasuke.

Arsenal: Sakura is not on the same team as Konohamaru. You'll find out who she's being trained by later.

Angelic Warrior: Remember, Hinata has the Byakuugan.

DevinJ2000: I don't really know how I can put a picture onto my profile. If someone would tell me, that'd be nice. Anyway, I'll try to explain it by words. First, the iris is green. Then, there are five bars that do not touch either the iris or pupil. If they continued to grow in length, would touch the place where the iris ends. If you connected the diagonals, you'd come up with a perfect star.

Obsidian-Fox: To tell you the truth, the KakaKure lemon was only there so that, after, Kakashi would talk about the whereabouts of Itachi and Kisame and, though he didn't know about it, reveal the status of Naruto and Hinata and the IruAnko pairing is just there to get Kakashi and Kurenai into bed so that the above would happen. However, the NejiTen lemon is very important, as it creates the stage for a highpoint, which I will not reveal to you, as it would kill the story for many people.

Also, if this story does get deleted, then I will post it up on Adult Fan Fiction with the same title under the penname of drunkdragon. That site really needs more het pairings.

A/N: About my grammar and spelling. I use Microsoft Word. If it doesn't catch the mistake, then I'm sorry, because, more likely than not, I won't catch it either.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

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Chapter Nineteen: End of Year Three 

Training grounds are often littered around in the hidden villages. Most of them are open to the public. Others are only offered to a select amount of people. But there is a reason as to why they are called training grounds. The history behind the reason why it was called training grounds is written in Encyclopedia Ninja.

Early in the days when few shinobis existed, you would be unable to find a training ground anywhere. No matter how hard you looked, you would not be able to find any, because they went by a different name. They were called training-to-the-ground. The reason why is because during the times when being a shinobi was idolized, many zealous pursuers of the goal practiced very hard. Often, they practiced so hard, that they found it very difficult to stand up and would often fall, hence the name training-to-the-ground. It was only years later that someone who was smart enough decided that it should be called training grounds, as it was easier to pronounce.

As of now, the Yondaime clone, which looked ever more and more like him, was being trained to the ground.

Naruto fell face down onto the cold, hard earth in the Akatsuki training room. How had he gotten himself into a situation like this? Itachi slowly walked over to his prone body.

"Get up, Naruto." It was punishment. He had taken it, and he deserved to be punished, though it would eventually help him in the long run. Itachi was punishing, though he preferred to call it training, him away from prying eyes. Kisame wasn't there to 'punish' him as well because he didn't care that much about Itachi's belongings.

Shakily, Naruto attempted to push himself up from the ground, but then flopped back onto the floor. Breathing heavily, he closed his green eyes. Over the years, his right eye had slowly begun to change into the Gensougan eye. At first, it turned green. Then, the intricate details came in.

"Get up, Naruto." Itachi delivered a swift kick into his stomach, causing him to fly up a bit and land on his back. As he landed, a loud thud and the chinking of many weights echoed off of the walls. After several deep breaths, Naruto slowly sat up and got onto his feet. He slouched forward due to the weights. "Don't slouch." Naruto straightened his back.

"Itachi-sensei, please," Naruto begged, "it's three a.m., I'm tired and-"

"Shut it," Itachi said in a berating tone, "You took it and therefore you deserve this punishment."

Naruto bowed his head in shame. It was not that he was ashamed of stealing Itachi's belonging. But it was out of how ashamed he was of being so whipped.

_**Flashback**_

"That ends today's training. You are free to go." Itachi said. They were inside the training room. Normally, if the group were on a mission, they would train in secret places in forests, mountains, etc. However, they were currently in the Akatsuki complex. Breathing heavily, both Hinata and Naruto nodded, and then left.

It had almost been three years since they had first stepped into the Akatsuki complexes. And each one of those three years had been filled with memories, both in and out of the duo's home.

They had changed much over the three years. If someone from Konoha looked at them now, they would have a difficult time recognizing them. Naruto had grown taller, much taller. He easily towered over Kakashi now. His hair was even more unruly and like the Yondaime's hair than ever. He didn't bother to tie it up, because not only did it look girly, it would always come apart. His face no longer looked like that of a child, but slowly it was becoming a man's face. His voice had moved on from the young boyish highs to a deeper manly voice. And though Naruto didn't know it, he looked very much like the Fourth Hokage himself. Those who were around before the Kyuubi attacked would think that it was his spirit visiting them.

Hinata had changed completely. She had grown a little taller also but only reached to Naruto's chin. Her face had become beautiful and her hair had grown past her shoulders, reaching a little less than halfway down her back. Her body had the frame of, as Naruto put it in his mind, a goddess. Her voice was honey to his ears. But she didn't just change physically. She no longer stuttered and spoke louder with determination and self-confidence. But she also began to act very romantic when she was alone with Naruto and he didn't mind. And whenever she was in one of her romantic states, she would blush. Some things don't change.

Naruto didn't mind the blushing.

Their training sessions have been in and out of the complex, depending on whether they had been given a mission or not. Slowly, they were given more and more weights but were, after carrying two hundred pounds, allowed to use chakra to help support themselves. The missions worked a lot like the ones Konoha gave them. They were given a rank, and after it was completed, they would receive their pay. Of course, they never knew where the missions came from, but it often required the killing of a certain person. Both Naruto and Hinata disliked taking lives, but they both knew that it was necessary because it was their job and in order to become stronger.

They walked back into their room. Naruto opened the door and stepped in. He turned around and stared back at empty space._ 'Where's Hinata-chan?'_ he thought to himself. She's probably practicing her invisibility jutsu, he told himself. She was an expert at concealing herself. The only time she would show herself was when she attacked. And Naruto didn't like his situation very much. He walked into the room and looked around. There, he saw Hinata's scythe. It had grown a little longer, as if it in itself was a living being, to accommodate her preferences.

Naruto didn't like this feeling at all. Normally, when Hinata used this jutsu, one of the reasons why she couldn't be detected was that she was able to keep her killer intent under control. Only when she struck would it be detected. The other was because of her impeccable chakra control. Naruto had trouble detecting her when she was in this state. Even with his Gensougan activated, it was still difficult because Hinata hid her chakra so well, that when under his Gensougan, Naruto could barely see its wisps. He stopped in the middle of the room, turned his back away from the bed, and closed his eyes.

Concentrating, he focused some chakra to his ears, catching every little sound. He heard a soft, slow pattering of feet behind him. Smiling to himself, he bided his time until she was a close enough to him. Then, in a fluid motion, he maneuvered himself so that he was behind Hinata. He slipped his arms around her waist, causing her to deactivate her jutsu. He pulled her in towards him as she squeaked at Naruto's quick and sudden movements.

Leaning his head over her shoulder, he whispered, "Trying to sneak up on me?" He nibbled at her ear. Though it was faint, he heard a short moan escape from her lips. "You'll have to do better than that," he whispered as he kissed her cheek. His hands roamed upwards and gently squeezed her breasts. Blushing, she moaned once more, except a little louder. Over time and after their first truly passionate kiss, the pair had slowly dropped the rules around the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Now, the only place that they had agreed upon that they could not touch was between their legs.

"When was our last snuggle session?" she asked in a romantic manner. As they grew older, Itachi gave them more leeway when it came to any romantic business. He allowed what the pair deemed 'snuggle sessions,' but anything other than that was out of bounds. And they wouldn't break Itachi's trust either, lest they face his wrath.

He nuzzled her cheek before answering, "This morning."

Turning around, she put her arms over his shoulders and kissed his lips. "That was too long ago." Using her hands, she pushed Naruto onto the bed and climbed on top of him. She resumed kissing him, but then stopped as Naruto quickly pulled away.

"What's wrong?" she asked pouting.

"Coat," Naruto said in a strained voice. Hinata had no idea what Naruto was talking about.

"What about my coat?"

"The weights in the coat."

"Oh!" Hinata removed the coat and it landed with a heavy thud. It was then accompanied by another thud that belonged to Naruto's jacket. Many times, the pair would have to return to the tailoring room to get a set of clothing that would fit them, as they had continually outgrown their previous sets.

They continued until Naruto remembered that Itachi wanted to meet him in the library after training. He frowned "Sorry, Hinata-chan, but we'll have to continue this later," Naruto said, sitting up.

"What do you mean?" she asked, pouting again.

"Itachi-sensei asked me to meet him in the library today after training."

"Come back soon," she said in a longing voice. She sprawled her body over the bed in a rather arousing manner. Naruto simply kissed her lips, grabbed a coat that was lying on the ground, and left. Closing the door, he began to walk to the library. But something felt weird about the coat. He put one of his hands into the pocket and discovered that this jacket was not his, but Hinata's.

He also discovered the Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition in the pocket. He opened the book and looked at the inside cover. There was a sticker that read "Property of Uchiha Itachi." There was even an official stamp of the Uchiha fan underneath the writing.

'_If this book was in Hinata-chan's jacket… that means that,'_ Naruto froze up, _'she's a pervert.'_

If there were anything in the world that Naruto would like to have hung, drawn, quartered, whipped, boiled, and then jump on their remains, it would be perverts. Just about every teacher he had was a pervert save Iruka. And now Itachi was on the list. But most importantly, Hinata was on the list too.

He could not find it in himself to hate Hinata for being a pervert. But he just didn't like the thought of it. Thinking around for a moment, he decided that it would be best to have a talk with her. Walking back, he opened the door.

Hinata, who was lying down, looked at Naruto and smiled. "I thought that you were going to go to the library." Naruto didn't answer, but instead took off Hinata's coat and put on his own.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto tossed the book next to her, "I found this in your coat pocket when I accidentally took." Hinata froze when she looked at the book that he threw at her. He knew. "Would you like to explain why it was in your coat pocket?" Hinata looked up at him. She knew that it would be no use lying to him, as they both knew how to read each other's body language. She sat up and drew her legs into her chest.

"I-I was reading it," Hinata stuttered. Naruto sighed.

"Why were you reading it?"

"I… I enjoy the book." Naruto walked over to her and took a seat next to her on the bed. But before that, he took off the coat and placed it on the floor gently.

"You know how much I dislike perverts, right?" Hinata nodded, cowering away from him in fear that he'll lash out to hit her. "Well, normally I wouldn't care about them too much, unless it was someone close to me, like Ero-sennin." Hinata took that statement hard and in the wrong way.

Before he could continue, she blurted out, "So you don't care for me anymore?" Tears welled up in her eyes and she began to cry.

"No, I don't mean that," Naruto attempted to help her, but she drew away from him.

"Y-You think I'm just some kind of pervert?" she said, her words breaking up. "Then I don't care about you too!" Hinata knew this was a lie, but what he had said earlier had just hurt her so much. She just wanted to get away from him, run into a corner and cry her heart out. Grabbing her coat, she ran out of the door. Naruto swore, grabbed his coat, and ran out the door following her.

"Hinata-chan!" he cried out, chasing after her. She simply continued her run, tears streaming down her face. Applying some chakra to her feet, she ran at inhuman speed. "Hinata-chan, please!" forcing some chakra, he took off after her at the same pace. Seeing her run away from him brought him back to how he was rejected when he was a child. Every painful memory of some parent saying to their child that they were never to play with him again, every heart-wrenching memory of the hatred of the child towards him, every stabbing memory of him being alone in his room with no one to talk to, they all came flooding back to him. Normally, Naruto would be able to deal with his memories. But seeing Hinata run away from him was another story. He loved her.

Hinata continued to run. Despite Naruto's pleas for her to stop running, she didn't. Blinking away a tear, she was unable to see a rock protruding out of the ground. She tripped and rolled a bit. That was enough for Naruto to catch up to her. As she got up, he gently wrapped his arms around her waist, preventing her from escaping. Not wanting to be caught now, she struggled to get free. She elbowed him in the stomach, but he still held onto her in the same gentle manner. She continued to elbow him trying to get herself free from his grip.

She felt a drop of water on the back of her neck. Turning her head around, she saw tear droplets forming at the edge of his closed eyes and slowly making their way down his cheeks. "Please…" he said, sniffling. "Don't run from me… It's painful seeing you run away from me like the others."

"Naruto-kun…" this was the first time she saw Naruto break down in front of her like this. They had gotten into arguments before, but something like this never happened before. He told her about how much it hurt seeing everyone avoid him. He called them 'the others'. She didn't want to be classified as one of 'the others'. Instead, she wanted to be Naruto's lover and soon his wife.

"When I saw you running away from me like that…"

"Shh… Naruto-kun, it's okay."

"…It just hurt so much…" his voice was strained. He let out a sob. "Please, Hinata-chan, I love you… don't run away from me again…" Her own tears stopping, she turned around and focused on Naruto.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun. I… I won't run from you again. I love you, and nothing will change that." Naruto's knees buckled beneath him, causing Hinata to kneel down, bringing both of them onto the floor. Hinata cradled his head against her shoulder, patting him and gently saying soothing words. She rocked her body back and forth, giving Naruto gentle kisses to the cheek every now and then. Slowly, Naruto managed to reduce his bawling to gentle sobs. "I reacted too fast to what you said to me."

"S-Sorry about that," Naruto said, still having his head cradled in her hand. "You still want to talk about it?" Hinata nodded. Standing up, they looked each other in the eye, smiled, and held hands as they walked back to their room.

After entering, they sat on the bed next to each other after taking their coats off. "So," Naruto began, "how far have you read into the book?"

"I've… already finished it a couple of times."

"Okay… um… are you going to return it to Itachi?"

"Yes, but… I don't know how he'll react. Is he going to kill me for taking this book?" she looked at Naruto. "I'm scared to give it back to him."

"It is just Itachi-sensei. How bad can it be?"

"He killed his whole clan at the age of thirteen, leaving Sasuke."

"I see," Naruto replied in a mockingly sage-like tone. Hinata scooted over to hug him feeling more secure when she was like this.

"Could you give it to him for me? Please?" she looked at Naruto in the eye. There was just something about her eye that was unusually persuasive.

"Alright, I'll do it for you," Naruto said. He returned the hug and kissed her cheek. Hinata straddled his waist and then pushed him down, causing Naruto to fall with his back onto the bed. She leaned forward, starting to kiss him, continuing their halted snuggle session.

Itachi would be waiting in the library for fruitless reasons.

_**End Flashback**_

"You kept my Icha Icha Paradise, Volume Two, Super-Limited Edition from me for three years," Itachi said. "I'm being nice." Naruto shuddered at the last comment. So far, Naruto's punishment, which Itachi chose to call training, consisted of doubling the amounts of weights he carried, not allowing him to use chakra to help him move around with the weights, sparring, and absurd of running laps, push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups.

Itachi, however, was more worried about Hinata. _'What if they are no longer virgins? If Naruto read that book…'_ Itachi shuddered, trying not to think about it. The whole point of Naruto's 'punishment' was to tire him out so that he would be too tired to have sex afterwards. However, Naruto and Hinata would be getting married soon. He'd have to tire Naruto out until the night before they get married.

"Naruto, give me ten more laps around the training complex." Too tired to complain, Naruto simply began his laps without the use of chakra. Naruto finished his laps at what he perceived to be six a.m. Ready to collapse, he stood at attention in front of his teacher.

"Now that you have done that, I need you to come with me to the library." The pair walked to the library, one significantly farther ahead than the other. When they got there, they walked in and each took a seat.

"Now I know that you're getting married soon, so I decided that you should at least know how this sex stuff works. So, first, to sa," Itachi looked at Naruto.

He was sleeping. Slamming his hand onto the hard wooden table, he managed to wake up Naruto.

"I'm awake!" he said, facing the wrong direction and talking to a pole. He turned around to see Itachi's disarming stare.

"…After this, you owe me another lap." Naruto let his head hit the table. Then he decided that it wasn't the smartest thing to do because he might fall asleep again. "So, to avoid wasting breath, have you taken any Human Growth and Development courses at the academy?" Naruto nodded his head. "Good, that saves me a lot of time. Follow me." Standing up, they walked down one of the many aisles.

'_Let's see what we've got… 10 Ways to Stop Bad Habits, no, 10 Ways to Sexually Enhance your Body, The Ninja Way … I think I'll hold onto this,'_ Itachi slipped the book into his pocket. "Here we go," Itachi pulled out a paperback book. Naruto looked at the cover and his face instantly drooped.

"10 Ways to Sexually Please Your Wife?" Naruto asked in a stupefied manner. "Why do I need this?"

"If you're going to get married, you may as well know how to fulfill your role as a husband." Naruto nodded and reluctantly put the book into his coat pocket. He then turned around to leave for his room. But Itachi grabbed his shoulder.

"What?" Naruto asked in a tired manner. Itachi took his index finger and pointed at the ceiling. Then, he moved it in the shape of a halo. Sighing, Naruto began to run his lap around the library.

When he had finished, Itachi had dismissed him and allowed him to use his chakra to support the weights. Naruto did so and found that he was so tired and that even with his chakra, it did not help him much. Walking back, the pair saw Hinata leaving her room to go to the training room, her scythe strapped to her back in the same manner as Kisame's Samehada.

"Hinata," Itachi called out. She turned around and her eyes received the sight of Naruto seemingly half dead.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan," Naruto mumbled sleepily. Slowly, he teetered forward, the sleep consuming him. She ran towards him and held him, but buckled under the weight.

"What did you do to him, Itachi-sensei?" she asked, worried about Naruto.

"I doubled the amounts of weights that he will be carrying." Hinata was about to protest, but Itachi cut her off. "Take him back to his room and let him sleep. There will be no training today."

"How come?"

"You will see. I will come for both you and Naruto at nine p.m. sharp." Itachi used a tone that put an end to the matter. He turned around to leave. "I want you to join me for breakfast and then rest. We'll be on the move today." Knowing that she should stop asking questions, she took him to her room, and removed his clothing and bathed him.

If Naruto hadn't been asleep and if Itachi didn't tell her to go eat something, she would have spent a longer period of time washing him and admiring his body. After, she put his nightclothes on and tucked him into bed. Naruto managed to stay asleep for the entire time. Giving him a kiss, she left the room to get something to eat.

_**Naruto's Dream**_

'_It's so dark here,'_ thought Naruto. _'Why does he always pick a dark place?'_

"**Enjoy your training, Kit?**" Naruto whirled around to see Kyuubi walking behind his cage. "**Hope you're not too tired.**"

"Whatever, let's get this over with," Naruto retorted. Very rarely over the past three years had he been to this place. This was Kyuubi's training room for Naruto. In fact, he had only been here twice, the first time when Kyuubi explained how to use his Gensougan more effectively. Naruto had learned no new jutsus form the demon because he had spent these three years perfecting his Gensougan. The demon did not bother to teach Naruto during the day because Itachi worked him to the ground often. Also, Naruto was often busy practicing his Gensougan and his tailsmanship.

"**Oh, so you can dream about Hinata?**" the demon taunted. "**To kiss her, hug her, or perhaps… to pleasure her?**" the last comment got Naruto blushing.

"Hey! Those are private and only for me to know! You have no right to pry into my dreams!"

"**I'm not prying. Can I help it if I've been sealed inside a baka?**" Kyuubi roared. "**Besides, I see your dreams when you sleep. It's like a movie. Or, in your case, a dirty movie.**" Naruto simply crossed his arms. "**Anyway, I need to teach you two new jutsus.**" Naruto, though he tried to hide it, suddenly became very attentive. He was still a sucker for new jutsus. "**The first one is called Lagging Bunshin (1). It involves separating your chakra system from your body.**"

"What?" Naruto asked in a befuddled manner. For all he knew, there was no human way for a person to separate their chakra system from their body.

Kyuubi simply continued. "**What happens is that, by separating your chakra system from your body, it deconstructs itself to make a somewhat ghostly copy of you.**"

"That's just a regular bunshin. How good is that going to be for me?" Kyuubi flicked one of its tails and suddenly Naruto's voice was silent.

"**Stop interrupting. This kind of bunshin is different than any other bunshin. First of all, this bunshin is seemingly non-existing. They can see it and feel its punch, but they can't harm it. Also, it will be standing where you are, making it harder for them to see.**" Naruto nodded in understanding.

"**However, when you use this, you can't use any other jutsus or mold you or my chakra, so no flames for you. Also, your opponent's feet will stay connected to the ground that they stand on, allowing you to use multiple strong hits without knocking him away.**" A training log rose out of the ground. "**Punch this as hard as you can.**" Walking up, Naruto punched it so that it flew and smashed against the bars. "**I will now send you the hand seals.**"

Suddenly, Naruto's left hand seemed to move out of its own accord. During Naruto's first visit here, the Nine Tails demon taught him to use one-handed seals. Ending with demon, Naruto yelled out, "Lagging Bunshin no Jutsu!" Instantly, he could feel as if something was being plucked out of him.

And then nothing happened. Naruto raised his right hand to scratch his head, and then put it down. Shortly, a ghostly replica of his right arm raised itself, scratched what he quickly assumed to be a ghostly replica of his head. Then the ghostly arm was set down. Suddenly, another large training log rose itself out of the ground.

"**Punch it**," Kyuubi ordered. Naruto, using the same amount of force as before, punched the log as hard as he could with his right fist. The log, however, stayed put, only getting a piece of its bark chipped. Suddenly, a ghostly right fist, in the exact same motion, punched the log in the exact same spot and chipping it again. "**As you can see, your opponent will not move when you hit him or her. Also, with the time lag, it is easier to put up huge combos against your opponent and heavily damage them.**"

"**However, this separates your chakra system from your body. This is very dangerous and should only be used for short periods of time, since it is now an integrated part of your body. If you are separated from it for more than five minutes, you will die, so aim for vital spots. If you were younger, you would be able to use it longer because it is not fully integrated into your body yet. But with use and training, you can lengthen the time.**"

"**However,this uses up much of your chakra reserve. At your current chakra capacity, you shouldn't leave it out for too long .If you use it for too long, then, when you reintegrate your chakra system into your body, you will suffer from chakra depletion and possibly die.**"

"Okay, now how do I get my chakra system back into my body?" Naruto asked.

"**Simple. Even though it is still separated, it is still a part of you. Simply will it to return to you.**" Sounding easy enough, Naruto commanded his chakra system to return to him. It did so, and Naruto could feel it slowly reattach itself. As it finished, Naruto could feel himself become a bit fatigued.

"So what's the other jutsu?" Naruto asked. Perhaps it would be as useful as the other one.

"**Well, since your going to get married soon, I thought that I should teach you this now. But first, you need to do something.**"

"Which is…?"

"**You need to give Hinata a mark to show that she is your, as you humans put it, spouse.**"

"A mark?"

"**It's like the Cursed Seal, but it's only there for other people to see. In order to do so, you need to put some of your blood over a wound on her body. After doing so, you can use this jutsu on Hinata**."

"And this jutsu is used for…?"

"**Birth control.**"

"WHAT" Naruto lost his footing and quickly struggled to regain it. "**Where am I going to use that?**"

"**When you're 'pleasuring' Hinata.**"

"But I'm not going to ne,"

"**Look, are youand Hinata ready to raise a child at your age?**" Naruto shook his head. "**Didn't think so.**"

"**Alright, how do I use this jutsu?**"

"**First, use both hands to make the demon seal. Then summon chakra to your index finger and draw a circle around her navel.**"

Silence.

"And…" Naruto expected him to continue.

"**That's all.**"

"Oh. What if it fails?"

"**It won't.**"

"How are you so sure?"

"**Because I made it. Now you need to wake up and get ready for your next mission.**"

_**Real World**_

Naruto woke up to the feeling of Hinata gently nudging him awake. "What's going on?" he said in a sleepy voice.

"Itachi-sensei is taking us to our next mission. And after…" a smile grew on her face, "we're going to get married." Naruto smiled at the news. Getting up, he gave a short kiss to her lips.

"Let's get going then." Quickly, Naruto got dressed, tossed on his coat, and put on his Akatsuki hat. The pair left the room and was greeted by Itachi and Kisame. Walking down the long halls, they entered what they called, 'the throne room,' where Rugal, whose real name is still unknown, sat and controlled the Akatsuki. The four of them kneeled down on the red carpet in front of the leader, whose red eye did not give them much comfort. Rugal drank some of the sake that he always seemed to never run out of.

"Itachi, Kisame, I assume that you know why I have called you here." Itachi nodded in understanding. "Then I will allow you four to take your leave. Time is most crucial for this mission." Standing up, the four of them left towards the exit. Channeling chakra to his ring, the mighty rock wall rose and parted, allowing them to exit the cave. Activating their eyes, Naruto and Hinata put their slashed forehead protectors over their eyes to hide their identity.

"So where are we going, Itachi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Follow me and I'll explain on the way." Grabbing a kunai, he wrapped an exploding tag around it, took his arm out of his coat and summoned some chakra to it. Then, with all the strength he could muster, he threw the kunai at a forty-five degree angle, which vanished out of site in the starry night. _'Hopefully, by the time the kunai gets there, so will we.'_

"We're short on time, so use chakra." Handing out soldier pills to the team, the four of them sped off with Itachi and Kisame leading. Summoning chakra to their feet, they dashed off into the distance in the blink of a Sharingan Eye.

* * *

(1) - Think Duo Lon's Leader DM in KOF 2003 

I attempted to show the more fragile side of Naruto and Hinata in this chapter.


	20. Running Back Home

Whew! This chapter was rather difficult for me, since I felt that it wasn't my best. Also, it would ahve been longer, butI decided to save that for later.But it's here! It's finally here! And thank you for the reviews!

NarutoFreak22: I doubt that there will be much NaruHina sex in this story, though that may change.

Timeshifter: The book basically contains umm... sexual tips tocause the woman to climax, basically.

A/N: NaruHina fans rejoice! The lemon comes in the next chapter! Also, a rather large fact is revealed.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Running Back Home

Running is described in Encyclopedia Ninja as a rather important thing. Not only does it train the body, but it is also a rather useful technique. Running away to trap enemies in an ambush has claimed the lives of many shinobis. Running to escape your enemies and have time to rest and plan is rather important, too. That is why so many academies make those who enroll run countless laps. Many people hate running, but understand the importance of it.

One of those people was Uchiha Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke had hated what happened a year ago. He had to run, which was why he hated the incident. Some kid used what he called Harem no Jutsu on him. And he just so happened to have used Sakura's body. Not only was Sasuke surprised, his nose began to bleed, as he never really had a social life, though it was mostly because he never saw a girl naked. To add insult to injury, the kid had thrown his banana split at his stunned state, causing its banana-and-strawberry-and-vanilla-and-whip-cream-with-a-cherry-on-top goodness to burn his Sharingan eyes. Then, Konoha ANBU squads appeared. One of them fell down laughing at his predicament. Sasuke had run from the place, his face covered in ice cream and blushing red out of embarrassment. He now saw ice cream in a new light.

If Itachi ever found out what happened, he would never live it down. But he'd kill him, so it wouldn't matter too much.

Uchiha Sasuke hated what was happening right now. What had appeared to be an easy path to kill his brother has turned to a nightmare. But he didn't have the time to mentally berate himself. For the second time in his life, Uchiha Sasuke ran out of fear for his life. Orochimaru had waited long enough and decided that, fully developed or not, he would have the Sharingan. He had tried to take his body and his eyes from him. When Orochimaru had called him into his office, he thought he was going to be given another mission. But he understood the he was wrong as Orochimaru prepared his jutsu.

It was just pure luck that there was an explosion at the North Gate of the Sound Village. It gave the needed surprise for Sasuke to escape out of the window and start running as if he would never get another chance to kill Itachi.

Now, he was running down the path to the North Gate. If it was an attack, perhaps he could escape through the confusion. Pushing chakra into his legs, he whipped out a kunai and killed a Sound Nin who was sent to stop him.

Nearing his destination, he found that there was no attacking force. Instead, there was simply a gaping hole in the wall. Sasuke assumed that the explosion was what did this. He ran toward it as fast as he could pump his leg muscles. Suddenly, his Cursed Seal began to burn, its pain so excruciating that it caused him to stumble to the ground.

Out of nowhere, multiple Sound Nins dropped out from the sky, surrounding Sasuke. There were eighteen of them and from the looks of their vests they were jounins. Warily standing and turning his body around, he looked at the hole in the wall once more. It seemed to grow in size, taunting him. "Sasuke-sama," Sasuke turned around to face the voice, "Orochimaru-sama has asked us to return you to him."

"I'm not going back," Sasuke said, standing his ground. He blinked his eyes and activated his Sharingan.

"You don't give us much of a choice, Sasuke-sama." The said ninja pulled out his kunai. But as he did so, Sasuke noticed that there were tiny wisps of chakra flowing behind the man. "I'll give you one more chance though. Come with us and-," he never finished the sentence as a bloody scythe suddenly jutted out of his chest.

The air became tense as the person disappeared as suddenly as they had come. No longer focused on Sasuke, the remaining seventeen each began to panic. From behind them, nine things shot out and grabbed nine different shinobis and snapped their necks before retreating to the user. They moved faster than his Sharingan Eye could track and he couldn't get a detailed look at it. Sasuke watched as he grabbed another Sound Nin's face while his hands were engulfed in blue flames. Sasuke began to frantically look around. Another shinobi had fallen to the strange Death-like figure, reaching a total of three. He decided to call her Death because she wielded a scythe, had a long coat reaching past her knees that revealed just enough of her figure for him to know that it was a girl, and a slashed Konoha forehead protector over her eyes. The person who had used the tails had yellow hair and was taller than the girl. His face looked oddly familiar to him, though the slashed forehead protector blindfolded him as well.

Something told him that neither of them was blind.

Suddenly, two more figures dropped down from the sky, dressed in the same garbs as Death. One of them, swinging his gigantic sword, he ripped out another nin's guts. Sasuke could recognize that sword any day.

Hoshigaki Kisame had entered the scene. And if he was there, that meant that the other man was his brother. Sasuke was disgusted at himself for still calling him his brother. He prepared his Chidori to strike, but Death held his hand and smashed the Chidori into another ninja.

"Now is not the time," he heard Itachi say as he, using his katars, rapidly stabbed a shinobi in multiple vital points. "We need to go _now_." Taking out a whistle, he took a deep breath and blew, gathering up Kisame, the person with yellow hair, and Death. Flanking Sasuke, the group of five leapt out of the village via the hole in the wall. Itachi purposely stayed behind Sasuke to avoid putting his life in danger. His brother would not kill him, not when he was this close to being able to tell his brother the truth.

When they were far enough from the place, the five of them had stopped running to take shelter in a wooded area. Sasuke eyed his brother with his Sharingan. Itachi looked back at his younger brother. "Don't even bother," Itachi said, "You'll just be wasting chakra." Ignoring his older brother's advice, Sasuke charged, his Chidori screaming. Itachi grabbed his wrist, brought the Chidori into a tree, and then snapped it. Sasuke's screams echoed off of the walls.

"I told you to not even bother. You are still weaker than me because of how Orochimaru had been manipulating you." Not giving up, Sasuke took out a kunai with his other hand and tried to stab Itachi in the stomach. Itachi dropped his wrist, kicked the kunai out of his hand and bent his elbow in the wrong direction. More screaming ensued. "I can do this all day. We've got a Medic Nin if you would like to continue this, though I feel that we have more important matters to attend to." Standing up, Sasuke tried to kick him. That was when Itachi kicked out both of his kneecaps. Once again, Sasuke's cries of pain reverberated from the trees. Sasuke was in a sitting position and looked away from his brother in shame.

'_I worked so hard… and yet I can't even scratch him…'_ Sasuke berated himself again. "What matters do we need to talk about?"

"It's time you learn the truth about that night." That got the attention of Naruto and Hinata.

"There is no truth! You killed them!" Sasuke tried to stand up, but when he did, he cried out in pain, lost his footing, and fell face-forward. Itachi lightly picked him up and set him up against a tree. Sasuke tried to fight back, but what Itachi said forced his mind to go blank.

"Naruto, restrain him." Sasuke stared wide-eyed as three foxtails circled around him, tightly binding him to a tree.

"Na-Naruto?" Sasuke looked toward the direction of the user and saw the person who was binding him. "But… you're dead!" Sasuke took a closer look at Naruto. He couldn't see his eyes, but he could see the whisker marks on his face.

"Naruto, take off your forehead protector." Naruto did so with his free hand to reveal his green eyes to Sasuke.

"No! You're not Naruto! His eyes are blue!" Sasuke yelled out of disbelief.

"My eyes have changed over time," was Naruto's reply

"Then prove to me that you're Naruto!"

"Very well." Naruto did an impression of Sakura through his Harem no Jutsu. When he turned it off, he couldn't help but chuckle, seeing Sasuke's nose bleed. Sasuke was simply speechless as he turned his head aside in shame.

"If you're not dead…" Sasuke had some faint memory of when Orochimaru had told him about Naruto's death, "then… your friend who died with you… the Hyuuga girl…" Hinata removed her forehead protector to reveal her identity to him. "You staged your death?" Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"Anyway, we need to finish what we were talking about," Itachi turned to his younger brother. "I did not kill the entire clan and I still work for Konoha." Sasuke's focus returned to his brother.

"Bullshit!" Sasuke turned to him, spit flying from his mouth. Naruto and Hinata simply looked at Itachi. "I saw you kill Mom and Dad!"

"Please, let me finish. It was not I, but rather…" Itachi's mind drifted off to the day of the massacre.

_**Flashback**_

'_I'm starting to get bored of these missions,'_ Itachi thought. Here was the ANBU Captain, age thirteen. He has already seen many things that some ninjas will only see in their nightmares. And he was bored. Having just completed a somewhat difficult mission, Itachi was reporting to the Hokage about the mission.

"Good job, Itachi-kun. You may leave," Sandaime said. As Itachi reached for the doorknob, it turned and a frantic Hyuuga Hiashi was behind the door.

"Itachi-san! The Hyuugas! They've begun to attack the Uchihas!" Hiashi yelled.

Itachi had been at the secret meetings, involving the Sandaime, Hiashi, and himself. There had been talks of the Hyuugas wanting to keep their status as top clan of Konoha, and how the Uchihas were a threat to them though almost all of the Uchihas were more focused on the safety Konoha than petty clan statuses. Itachi had been the only person that kept the Hyuugas from attacking. But that day, he was gone on a mission.

Hiashi, during those meetings, had also talked about how some Hyuugas had developed a genjutsu that was similar to the Mangekyou Sharingan. Itachi, however, doubted that it was possible for them to do so.

Itachi, Hiashi, and the Hokage ran out to the Uchiha Sector of the village. As they entered the gates, they spotted bodies, many of them being Uchihas that Itachi recognized. They dashed through the streets, showing no mercy when they encountered other Hyuugas who had used a Henge to look like Itachi. As they cleaned out the sector, a scream was heard, emanating from a house that Itachi called home.

Sasuke. Dashing to the source, he encountered his brother, who had exited the house. "Sasuke! What happened?"

"Mom! Dad! Everyone! Killed! You!"

"Ototo, I don't know what you're talking about!" Itachi knelt down and put his hands on his shoulders. Sasuke pushed them away and punched him as hard as he could. Itachi, surprised, was given a bruise on his cheek.

"You killed them, Aniki! You killed Mom and Dad!"

"What are you talking about? I just got back!" But it was too late. Sasuke had already run from him towards the exit. The young child screamed for help from someone, anyone. Itachi, feeling the bruise on his cheek, entered the room that Sasuke ran out from.

There, he saw himself with a katana that was stained with the Uchiha blood. As the fake turned around, he smiled. "It's over, Itachi. The Hyuugas have won." Itachi, still being a thirteen-year-old, let a stray tear slide down his face as he saw his parents' bodies. He turned to face his opponent with his Sharingan eyes. Then, he disappeared into a poof of smoke. Puzzled, the fake looked around.

Then he was stabbed in the back of the head. Itachi pulled out the bloody kunai. But as soon as he did, he dropped it. As the Henge faded, it revealed a Hyuuga who was in his squad who he had become good friends with, though he suddenly did not want to remember the name.

The Hyuuga had been absent, saying that he was sick and that he needed rest. There was no doubt that he had used this time to prepare for the attack.

Itachi looked at the pool of blood gathering at the floor. He stared at his reflection. Slowly, he bent down and looked at his eyes and gasped.

His Sharingan had three blades instead of two.

_**End Flashback**_

The bruise never really went away. But today, perhaps it would start the healing process

"… The Hyuugas," Itachi finished his sentence. Hinata stood very still while Naruto, understanding how vengeful Sasuke could, stood in front of Hinata as a shield. "That night, some Hyuuga Main and Branch members launched an offensive against our clan. Against them, we did not much of a chance. We were caught completely off guard, plus their taijutsu is unmatched, which is why we as Uchihas would never be able to rise above them. The time I got back from my mission was probably the time you were walking back from the academy.

"That's not possible! You killed them! I saw you!"

"You saw someone posing as me kill our parents."

"You can't prove that you're innocent!"

"Actually, I can. However, I will need you to come with me to Konoha. Are you willing to walk beside me to know the truth?"

Sasuke could not say that he was swayed, but was definitely interested. Right now, Itachi was showing definite interest in him. His story made sense, though every particle in his body screamed at him to take action and kill his brother. A gut feeling told him that something deeper was happening than what his seven-year-old mind perceived it to be that night. "Alright, I'll go." Itachi wore a small smile.

'_Finally, the time has come.'_ "For safety reasons, we will let your wrists heal naturally and without the aid of jutsus. We will, however, fix your kneecaps." Itachi said. With that, Hinata got to work. First, she gave Sasuke a branch to bite down on. Then, she quickly put his wrists back into place. When she looked at Sasuke's face, the branch had snapped and his face was contorted in pain. Taking some bandages and some peeled bark, she made a makeshift splint for each wrist.

Moving down to the knees, she gathered chakra into her hands. She disabled some of Sasuke's Tenketsu points to nullify the pain from his knees. Then, using her chakra-filled hands, she dragged the kneecaps back into place. Naruto then released him from his tails. Without another word shared, the group of five traveled Konoha. Naruto and Hinata put their forehead protectors over their eyes once more.

_**Konoha Gates**_

A pair of chuunins stood, keeping close watch on the path. Rumor has it that Uchiha Sasuke had escaped from the Village of Sound several days ago and was now headed for Konoha. Though the village people saw this act as cowardly and pathetic, the shinobis of higher rank would welcome him back with open arms, or at least most of them.

Slowly, out of the horizons, several figures grew closer. The chuunins took a good look and gasped. There were four Akatsuki members and someone in the middle, whom they could not identify. Were the Akatsuki here to attack Konoha? For all they knew, the Akatsuki should have been disbanded since Naruto was listed as dead. Slowly, as the group came into view, they were able to identify the people and gasped once more. Uchiha Itachi and his brother, Uchiha Sasuke, Hoshigaki Kisame and two people around Sasuke's age with slashed Konoha forehead protectors covering their eyes approached the gates. As they approached, the guards took defensive positions. The group of five stopped their advance.

"The young one seeks to understand," Itachi said. Smiling, both the guards dropped their stance and opened the gates. Sasuke saw how the guards reacted to him and was shocked. They smiled at his brother, the one who was guilty of the Uchiha Massacre. The group entered a place where four of them used to call home.

Home. The word seemed so far off to Naruto. Sure, he had spent thirteen years of his life here, but he found it difficult to accept it as his home. All the time, he had lived enduring the pain 'the others' dealt to him. No, it was more of a place to Naruto than a home. Hinata, understanding the pain, held out her hand to Naruto.

He gladly accepted. The group continued to walk. Naruto took a look at 'the others.' He saw that their eyes were not directed at him, but rather Sasuke, giving him a cold stare. He saw Sasuke drop his head in what he guessed was shame. Taking a look around him, he noticed that the villagers, after giving Sasuke the eye, gave him a look of awe and possibly fear. Why were they staring at him like that?

Itachi continued to lead the group through the crowd. As he looked around, many of the people were avoiding him. The crowd parted, making it easier to get to the Hokage's office.

That was, until a beautiful raven-haired kunoichi ran up to Itachi and grabbed his ear. She then extended her arm downwards, causing Itachi to stoop over. "Itachi-kun," she frantically said, "why haven't you been writing? I worried for three years over you!"

"I'm sorry, but I was unable to, Yuki-chan!" was all Itachi managed to say over the pain. Itachi prayed with all his heart that he would never end up where he had his ear grabbed by his girlfriend whom he also prayed with all his heart would become his wife one day.

"Why not?"

"I wasn't allowed to!"

Yuki turned to Kisame, who managed to smile his sharky smile at the scene. "Did he sleep with any other women?" Kisame shook his head and Yuki smiled. She pulled up Itachi and then wrapped her arms around and kissed him. Then she stopped, took his hand, and led him in the direction of her house. Itachi followed at first, but then turned his head to his companions.

"Kisame, Death, Tails, take my brother to meet the Hokage. I'll meet you guys there in six hours," Itachi said. Death was Hinata's codename while Tails was Naruto's nickname.

Yuki crept behind him and began to feel his body through the jacket, as if looking for something. "Twelve hours," she corrected as she grabbed the book 10 Ways to Sexually Enhance Your Body, the Ninja Way out of Itachi's coat pocket. "We're going to be rather busy."

"Okay, I'll meet you in-WHOA!" Itachi could not finish his sentence; Yuki had already dragged him far, far away from the scene.

Sasuke watched that in disbelief, too. His brother was closer than he was when it came to reviving the Uchiha Clan. He already had a steady woman that would wait three years for him while he was still at square one and he had abandoned the village. He scanned a look at the cold stares he was being given once more.

Make that square negative one.

What if what his brother said was true? What if he didn't kill the entire clan that night? What if it really was the Hyuugas that killed them? If all this were true, then he would have been living a lie for nine years and that he had been lied to for that long.

Slowly, the group of four walked to the Hokage's office. When they got there, the ANBU members stepped aside, allowing them to enter.

"Take a seat." Naruto looked to the direction of the speaker. It was Tsunade who was sitting behind the desk that had told them to sit. There were some ANBU members around her. There were also her two assistants, Shizune and Haruno Sakura. The pink-haired girl looked up at their visitors in surprise. "S-Sasuke-kun? Why are you here?" Sakura had been promoted to chuunin in the last chuunin exam. Obviously, she knew about the Uchiha Massacre. _'Perhaps… Perhaps today I can be with him again…'_

'_I'll need to see her later…'_ Naruto thought.

Sasuke simply remained silent and looked away because he could not look at her without mentally undressing her and that he was not ready to confront her because he tried to kill her last year. Had he not been here to know the truth of the past, he would have done his best to kill everyone in this room.

The four sat down as Tsunade asked them to. "So, Uchiha Sasuke, I believe you have come to understand the truth of that night?" Sasuke nodded. "Alright then," she turned to one of the ANBU members. "Bring me Hyuuga Hiashi."

Hinata shook at the name. Naruto gently put a hand on her shoulder to calm her anger.

"While he's getting here, Kisame, do you mind introducing me to these companions of yours?" Tsunade looked at Naruto and Hinata.

"If you want to know their names, ask them," Kisame wisely said. Perhaps they would not want to reveal themselves to Tsunade. As she was listening, Naruto hastily hid the necklace that she had given to him. If she saw, then he would have to come up with a humongous lie.

"Alright then," she turned to Naruto and Hinata. "May I know your names?" The pair looked at each other before turning back to answer.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but we feel that we should not tell you our names," Naruto answered. Tsunade frowned before speaking up again.

"I notice that your forehead protectors are from the Leaf. Seeing as you have both helped bring in Uchiha Sasuke, I am willing to drop charges from Konoha against you. However, for me to do so I will need to know your names and what laws you broke."

"We have made no transgressions against Konoha," Naruto answered, puzzling Tsunade and the rest of the Konoha staff.

"I see. I will offer you one more opportunity to have your charges against you dropped. Since you are working with Itachi and Kisame, perhaps you would like to work with them to bring down the Akatsuki?" That got Naruto and Hinata to look at each other once more.

They both didn't like what they did there. It was not because they had to kill people, they would have to sooner or later, but it was because sometimes, those people did nothing wrong. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, they both thought. They turned to Tsunade once more.

"We agree that we will work for Konoha to bring down the Akatsuki." Tsunade smiled and turned to Sasuke.

"As you will soon learn the truth of that night, Konoha will drop all charges against you. You will then be reintegrated into Konoha society. We will also reinstate you as a ninja in the position of genin and be placed in a team that is ready to take the Chuunin Exam." As she was about to speak again, the door opened, revealing Hyuuga Hiashi. Hinata was slowly brimming with disgust. He walked in with a rather down face, as if he did felt rather convicted of what his clan had done nine years ago. Taking a seat next to Tsunade, he turned to face his audience.

"I know that this one," he pointed at Sasuke, "is Itachi's brother. However, who are the other three people?"

Before anyone could say anything, Hinata spoke up. "We are Itachi's accomplices." Her tone was a cold one, a tone that Naruto prayed that he wouldn't hear directed at him often.

"Indeed…" Hiashi trailed off. "Speaking of which, where is Itachi?"

"He became… distracted," Hinata answered once more. Hiashi looked at her, as did the rest of the Konoha staff. She didn't sound like this earlier. 'Did she have something against him?' they thought.

"Forget about him," Sasuke spat, "what happened on that night?" Hiashi put on a grim face as he remembered the time when the Konoha strife was at its greatest.

"Hyuuga Main and Branch members attacked the Uchiha complex that night. As your brother and I killed the perpetrators, Itachi heard you scream and ran towards your voice. I saw you run out and converse with Itachi and later punch him and run away. Itachi ran into the room you came out of. When I entered it, I saw one of the Hyuugas using a Henge to look like your brother get stabbed in the back of the head by Itachi."

"The village suffered from a large drop in manpower after that night. Obviously, the village would wonder where all the Uchihas went and would want answers. We could not tell them that the Hyuugas had attacked and killed them and we needed an answer fast. The Hokage, Itachi and I had a meeting to come up with an answer. It was there that your brother decided to become the scapegoat, seeing as the rumor of him killing his clan had already been spreading. That night, he ran from Konoha."

"I know that you are angry that you have been lied to for more than half your life… I have a request. I know that you do not have to fulfill it, but please, do not seek to avenge your clan by attacking the Hyuugas." Sasuke looked up at Hiashi. "Those who deserve death have already been buried like a dog."

"…" Sasuke stayed silent, but inside his mind was making a racket. Not only had Konoha kept this secret from him, Orochimaru used it against him to get what he wanted. He gave up all he had: his home, his rights, and his village. But what he regretted the most was that he gave up his friends to chase after a goal that was now rendered obsolete. Killing his brother would be against the law, now that he knew the truth. Carefully, he scanned the room once more. It was comprised of Naruto, Kisame, Hinata, himself, the Hokage, several ANBU members, and her two assistants, Shizune and Sakura.

Sakura.

She still had that strange look in her eye when she looked at him. Something about that look gave him his answer. "I, Uchiha Sasuke, will not avenge my clan, as they have already been avenged." Hiashi smiled. Hinata simply watched him smile in disgust.

'_How can he still smile after what he did to me? He cast me out like I was a worthless piece of trash.'_ Hiashi slowly stood up and headed for the door. "Hyuuga-sama," Hiashi turned to face Hinata. "How is your clan doing?"

"It is doing fine, thank you." Hiashi turned to the door again.

"How is your daughter?" Hinata asked him once more. Hiashi turned to the scythe-wielding girl. His face was mixed with forced politeness and annoyance.

"Hanabi? She is doing fine and will soon be ready to lead the clan."

"No, your other daughter, how is she doing?"

"Other daughter? I do not have another daughter." Before Hinata could answer, Hiashi stormed out the door.

Hinata simply remained seemingly emotionless.

_**That Night**_

Uchiha Sasuke was out of it. No, he wasn't out of it he was aloof, totally lost in the big world's damned incomprehensibleness. Today had just been plain ol' bad for him. He sat on top of the Hokage Monument, overlooking Konoha. His legs were crossed, his elbows on his knees. He heaved a slow sigh.

The life he lived was a mess. His family had been gone by age seven. As for him, he lost his childhood. He felt cheated, wronged, unjustly punished by the events that had happened in his life.

Why did his brother have to leave? Why didn't the Hokage simply tell just tell the goddamn village that the Hyuugas had done it? It could have been perfect for him.

For him. Uchiha Sasuke was disgusted at his own selfishness. He wanted everything to be perfect for him. HE had wanted to kill his brother then HE wanted to marry a girl to revive the clan.

Had he ever thought of what his brother or his future wife wanted, he asked himself. He doubted that he had.

Itachi left the village because he knew that there was no other choice. Sasuke had been running around, screaming that his brother had killed his parents and the Uchihas to everyone. The Hokage had to make the lie because otherwise Konoha could fall into strife. Everyone around him had made sacrifices to help further a greater cause while he offered the back of his hand to people.

But there was one person who seemed not to have offered a lot.

And that person had was running laps on the monument. Naruto continued to trudge along, his weights unsupported and moving a little faster than last time, when he spotted Sasuke staring at him. Though his forehead protector covered his eyes, Sasuke knew that Naruto had developed something dangerous.

"Oi, Naruto," Sasuke called out. The said teenager turned around to face Sasuke. "What happened to your eyes?" Naruto slowly dragged himself to where Sasuke was and sat down.

"Well, my eyes have become what I call the Gensougan." Naruto removed his forehead protector to reveal his green eyes. Sasuke took a look at the design and found it rather intriguing. "I acquired it shortly after Orochimaru captured you, though it was only in my left eye. I later developed my right one."

"What does it do?"

"If I focus chakra to my eyes and simply stare into space, I can see through objects in my field of vision. If I focus my sight on a particularly fast object, I can see it clearly, much like how your Sharingan helps you see fast objects." Sasuke turned back to face the village. He sighed.

"Bad day, huh?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "Don't worry, it happens."

"I bet you never had a day that was worse than my day." Sasuke once again plopped his chin onto his palm. "I discovered that I had been lied to for nine years."

"Oh, I had worse. I was lied to for thirteen years." Sasuke twisted his head to take a good look at him.

"Are you serious?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "What did they lie to you about?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Naruto asked. Sasuke simply nodded. There, Naruto explained what had happened to him. The Kyuubi, learning things from the demon, he held nothing back. Sasuke was shocked to discover that Naruto was able to live with the hatred and pain the village dealt to him.

Emotionally, Naruto was stronger than him. "You know," Sasuke began, "we got off to a bad start. Want to start over?" Naruto grinned. "Hello, my name is Uchiha Sasuke. What's yours?"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you." The duo shook hands and then looked towards the village.

"So what else does your Gensougan it do?" Sasuke asked. He soon found that he liked talking to Naruto.

"I can make hybrid genjutsus."

"Hybrid genjutsus?"

"It's like a regular illusionary jutsu, but it actually happens. If I used a genjutsu to form a cut on your body, normally it would disappear along with the pain when the genjutsu was defeated. However, this one can't be canceled and after it's over, the cut and the pain still remains." Sasuke simply stared at Naruto as if he was insane. "Here, watch this." Naruto gathered chakra to his eyes and stared into Sasuke's black ones. Instantly, Sasuke felt like someone was touching him on the back. He turned around and saw Sakura. He blushed and turned away.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said in a rather sexy manner. She quickly wrapped her arms around him from the back. Sasuke's breath quickened as her hands roamed over his body. His heart rate quickened and he seemed to have lost much of his motor skills by Sakura's sensual touches. She nibbled his ear, causing Sasuke to moan.

Weakly, Sasuke put his hands into a seal, "K-Kai," he quietly said. But it was in vain. Sakura continued to roam her hands around his body. Slowly, her hands roamed lower and reached the beltline of his pants. She undid his fly and slipped one of her hands in. "S-Sakura-chan!" Sasuke cried, blushing harder. His eyes closed, feeling her hand gently stroke his erect member. He leaned onto her body, feeling the contour and curves through his back.

He suddenly leaned backwards onto the ground. Sasuke looked around, seeing that there was no Sakura. _'That felt so… real.'_ "…"

"Well… What do you think?" Naruto asked. There was some sweat on his forehead, but he quickly wiped it away. Apparently, it still took quite a lot of concentration and chakra.

"That was mean of you, Naruto. That was sick, perverted and mean."

Naruto simply smirked. "Zip up your fly," he said and then he turned back to face the village. Sasuke looked down and swore before zipping his fly.

"Naruto, what are you… oh… hello, Ototo." Itachi wheeled himself out onto the monument. Apparently, after his twelve-hour sex marathon, he had fainted from chakra depletion. The doctors at the hospital said that he should avoid walking and using chakra for a few days.

"Hello… Aniki," Sasuke uncomfortably replied. Those words sounded so foreign to him. Itachi wheeled himself over next to Sasuke.

"… I know that you're feeling rather depressed right now," Itachi said. Sasuke simply nodded. "Let me guess. It is because of the fact that you are a Missing Nin and you feel that it will be difficult to fit in again and to have the people accept you." Sasuke nodded his head again.

"Well, look at it this way: You're being given a second chance. Normally, traitors are executed on the spot," Itachi said. "Plus, there's that Sakura girl." Sasuke blushed at the name. "She seemed to have liked you. And since you want to revive the Uchiha Clan…" Itachi need not explain any more; Sasuke was red in the face. "And don't worry about not knowing how to talk to girls; just do it." Itachi smiled. "You know, you kind of look like me when I was your age," Itachi said while ruffling his brother's hair.

Itachi then turned to Naruto. "As for you, your 'training' is done for tonight." Naruto applied chakra to his weights. "However, I want you to read your book here." Naruto's face dropped.

"I'm not reading that book."

"You will read it or you will continue to run laps," Itachi threatened. Surrendering to his sensei, Naruto took out his book, 10 Ways to Sexually Please Your Wife and began with chapter one. "I expect you to finish this book by tonight. You will not have time to read it later."

Sasuke took a look at the cover and laughed. "Why do you have to read this?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm getting married soon and your brother here feels that I should be able to pleasure my wife properly." Sasuke stared at Naruto incredulously.

"You're getting married?" Naruto nodded. "To who?"

"Hyuuga Hinata, the girl who came with us."

"I see…" Sasuke said. For the first time in a long time, he didn't smirk, but smiled. It felt good to be back home.

'_I still need to see Sakura…' _Naruto thought.

* * *

A/N: Normally, an author would say that Orochimaru killed all the Uchihas. I was rather tired of it and decided to make a twist. Since the Hyuuga's did it, it would explain why Tsunade said, "_Those damn Hyuugas… It's their fault that this happened,_" (Chapter 14) and why Itachi froze up when he heard the word Hyuuga in Chapter 15.


	21. Got Sennin?

Whew! I worked hard all yesterday getting this chapter done. I know that you've patiently waited for this chapter, and I thank you for your cooperation. Thank you for your reviews, they are a constant reminder that I am slacking off.

Jesse: could you send me the link over email? That would be much appreciated.

TimeShifter: To answer your question, it has almost absolutely no use in the plot whatsoever. It's just there. Apology accepted.

Obsidian-fox: He will have more than enough to deal with than just Sasuke. Who is something that you'll just have to be patient about.

DiamondBlade64: The storyline will be cleared up over the next chapters. I won't say when or where, but they will.

SleepyKitty: Sorry, but I said I would write a lemon for Naruto and Hinata. I must fulfill it as my obligation as an author.

Aiel: Whoa. I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me.

Manatheron: Hiashi is not mad at Hinata, but rather pretends that Hinata never existed. When Hinata was three, he was disappointed by the fact that Hinata could not compete against her sister. She was just someone in the way. So when Hinata died, he was more happy than saddened: there was one weak link whose genes wouldn't get passed down. Also, it allowed him to focus more on Hanabi.

A/N, March 27th, 2005: I've decided to repost this chapter, mostly because I left out some details, especially regarding the scene with Naruto and Jiraiya. So, if you feel that you must, reread this chapter as you may need to know some things from it.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

And now, advertised since chapter eleven...

the NaruHina lemon.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: Got Sennin? 

The Encyclopedia Ninja is a rather wonderful book. It even has information on how to become a Sennin. It reads as follows:

'_Becoming a Sennin is rather difficult. First, one needs to have been trained very well. Second, they must be the scroll guardian of a creature summon and they need to have either acquired it by having it handed down to them or making their own. Also, they must have a particular trait. It may be a strange, snakelike body, humongous strength and breasts, or extreme perverseness, to list a few. Finally, though this is optional, one must become famous enough throughout the world in some way to be recognized worldwide as a sennin._

_It is very difficult because one must either have had their summoning contract passed down to them or have created their own summoning contract (look up summoning contract on page 1049).'_

Jiraiya's journey to reaching Sennin level was perhaps one of the strangest of them all. If one looked up Jiraiya's name, they would come up with nothing. Why? That is because Jiraiya is not a true sennin; he did not receive his summoning contract as described by Encyclopedia Ninja in order to become a real sennin.

But people don't care.

Jiraiya received his summoning contract when the Sandaime Hokage was still training him. Having just been tied to a log and gotten into a kicking fight with a flat-chested teammate, he was walking home with some bruises on his legs.

However, his flat-chested teammate's kicks were starting to cause him pain in his legs. So, instead of walking home, he slept under a tree, being too tired to walk or get something to eat. And he slept there until a large tree branch next to him snapped. It fell and awoke Jiraiya. Deciding that it was not safe to stay there, he stood up and began to walk home once more.

Then, in the darkness, he tripped over a body. Jiraiya turned around and saw a sennin who carried the summoning contract for frogs. Apparently, the man had tripped over a rock right when the branch fell onto the man's, neck crushing under the tree branch; he died instantly. From what he could smell, the man was drinking. He looked over the body and saw a gigantic scroll. He grabbed it along with some other things, mainly a spyglass and some scratch paper with the title Icha Icha Paradise written on it. There, Jiraiya made the vow to follow in the now-deceased perverted sennin. He would make the Icha Icha Paradise series the most famous perverted novel ever. He would later end up writing other perverted novels, like Icha Icha Tactics and the super-rare, tough-to-find book, Encyclopedia Ninja: Adult Version.

The subject will be covered later.

And now, Jiraiya was almost ready to finish the last book of the series; the only thing he lacked was the perfect sex scene. He was perched on top of a tree and was looking at the base of the waterfall. There, girls with swimsuits on splashed and played in the water. All wet, young, and not knowing that they were being watched; that was how Jiraiya liked them.

Notice the keyword, was. For Jiraiya, voyeurism had somehow, just somehow, lost its spark. Perhaps it was because he couldn't get over the fact that he failed the Yondaime's last request to protect his legacy. Perhaps it was because he always expected Naruto to reveal his position to the ladies he was spying on and that it never came. Perhaps it was because Naruto was so much like himself, that he felt a part of him died when Naruto did.

'_Perhaps,'_ he thought to himself, _'I should quit being a ninja.'_ Gathering up his equipment, Jiraiya disappeared and reappeared outside of Tsunade's room. Knocking and receiving no reply, he opened the door and saw her sleeping. She was the only one in the room, the rest of her staff busy with tasks. A deep frown was on her face.

For the past three years, Jiraiya never saw her smile. "Tsunade," he gently said. Slowly, the Gondaime looked up at Jiraiya. She slowly righted her posture and sat with her back against her chair.

"What brings you here today?" she asked.

"I've decided to retire from my job as a ninja." Tsunade immediately snapped to attention.

"Jiraiya! Please, Konoha needs every shinobi it needs! I'll increase your salary! Double! Triple! Please, just don't retire yet!" in her begging to keep Jiraiya from quitting, she had leapt over her desk and grasped his shoulders. After realizing what she had done, she pulled her hands down from them. She looked at her feet, "Sorry…"

Jiraiya put a caring hand onto her shoulder. "The Hokage stuff stressing you out?" Tsunade nodded.

"I'm not cut out to be Hokage. I can't put up a mask to hide this sadness of mine…" a tear slowly twisted its way down her cheek. "I can't take this anymore… Everything in here reminds me of Naruto. And then… when I look at the Fourth's face…" Tsunade broke down and started to cry. Jiraiya took her into a hug and patted her back

"Neither of us can look at the Fourth's face right now," Jiraiya comforted.

"I'm scared, Jiraiya. I'm afraid that I can't protect Konoha… I'm afraid that I'm going to fail at my job…" she sniveled, "I can't be the Hokage Naruto would have been!" Jiraiya continued to pat her back. "Please Jiraiya… don't quit yet… I'll just give you one more mission, and then you can retire." Her sniveling subsided.

"Alright, one more mission then."

_**Ichiraku Ramen**_

"…and so that was how my attempt failed," Sasuke said between mouthfuls of miso ramen. He had just finished telling Naruto how he had tried to kill Sakura to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan and how he failed horribly. Naruto found it hard to keep the noodles in his mouth.

Naruto hadn't had ramen in years. Perhaps he would splurge and just eat as much as he always would.

But he had an identity to hide. Even though he had his eyes behind a forehead protector, he could not eat his heart out. As he let the noodles touch his tongue, he savored the taste.

He may not be able to taste ramen for another three years. As he set his bowl down, the old man asked if he wanted another. Naruto, against every single nerve in his body, declined. Sasuke looked at him, shocked to see that he had refused a bowl of ramen. As both of them paid for his meal, Sasuke made a mental note to himself to ask why Naruto refused. Walking out Sasuke turned to Naruto, but then quickly turned away.

Sakura had been walking down the street towards them, but more specifically him. However, Naruto came to his rescue. The kitsune container turned to face Sakura. "Haruno-san," Naruto stated. Sakura simply turned to him. "Come with me." With a puzzled look on her face, she began to follow him. Sakura looked at him. He looked rather familiar, but with all that clothing on, she couldn't tell for sure. All she knew was that he looked very much like the Yondaime.

Naruto got a good look at her face. She had grown up a bit and was slowly growing into the figure of a woman. She no longer wore her red dress-like clothing. Instead, she it had been replaced with a black sleeveless top which was covered by a chuunin vest. She wore black short shorts that, at most, went down only to the middle of her thighs. Over her black short shorts was a pink mini-skirt-like piece of clothing, which had a buckle at each side. She had black boots on which were a few inches below her knees. Her forehead was just as large as when he had left. However, he was surprised to see that she wore no forehead protector. Surely she didn't renounce the ninja trade, since she wore a chuunin vest. Perhaps there was another reason why…

Naruto turned around and led the way. Sakura followed behind him while Sasuke stayed in the back. While they were making their journey, Naruto shot a look at Sasuke. The Uchiha was having a difficult time keeping his eyes away from her swaying hips. Smirking, he turned his eyes back to his path. Slowly, he walked the path that he walked many times before from his apartment to the Team 7 training area. When they finally arrived, Naruto turned to face Sakura.

"Haruno-san, why do you not wear a forehead protector?" Sasuke, after finally being able to draw his eyes away from her breasts, looked at her forehead. Indeed, there was no forehead protector.

"I don't wear it because, after what a friend told me, I feel that I am not worthy enough to where it," she sadly said. "After he failed to bring back Sasuke, I got angry at him and yelled at him. Then, he attacked me and removed my forehead protector, saying how I didn't deserve it." Sakura sighed. "And he was right. I was weak and couldn't do very much. A few days later, Tsunade took me in to teach me, saying how simply putting me into another team would waste my time, since I would have to relearn all the basics. It was there that I learned to strengthen myself."

"I told myself that I would never wear another forehead protector until my friend returned mine to me."

Naruto put on a smile. Reaching into one of his pockets, he removed a forehead protector. "Is this yours, Haruno-san?" Sakura looked at it and gasped. There was her forehead protector, along with every single scratch on it. On the upper right corner lay the scratches where Zaku had punched her multiple times. And beneath it was where a tree branch scratched it.

"W-Where did you come by this?" she asked, her mouth agape.

"During my travels, I stumbled upon a pair of shinobis. One was dead and had her eyesgouged out while another, dressed in orange, lay close to dying. As a I approached, the boy looked up and handed me your forehead protector, saying that he wanted me to test you to see if you could earn it." Naruto put the forehead protector away. "Haruno-san, show me whether you are worthy of your forehead protector!" without warning, Naruto charged and punched at Sakura, who leapt out of the way.

Whipping out a kunai, Sakura went for a low sweep in an attempt to kick Naruto's legs out from beneath him. Naruto carefully avoided the sweep and then leaned back as the kunai was swung at his neck. He back flipped away.

Naruto had no intention of using any of his jutsus. They stood out too much. If he used one, Sakura may find out who he is. Besides, as of right now, he wasn't here to kill her. From what he could see, Sasuke simply stood in the sidelines, watching the fight. Or was he watching Sakura?

Suddenly, a kunai was flung at him. Naruto caught it and began to twirl it in his fingers. Sakura smirked, watching the exploding tag slowly burn down. Of course, Naruto knew that it was there, but he ignored the fact. Sakura began to sweat. The exploding tag burned down to nothing. An explosion was missing.

"Your genjutsus will need to be better than that," Naruto said, tossing the kunai back at Sakura. Grimacing, she avoided it and let it get lodged into a tree. Putting her hands into a fist, she knelt down and slammed them into the ground, causing it to rupture and break beneath Naruto.

'_Her strength reaches the level of Tsunade-obachan,'_ he thought. As he leapt away, Sakura leapt into the air towards Naruto, twisted around and raised her leg up high. As she got close enough, she let her heel drop down. But Naruto managed to catch her leg, though with much difficulty. He kicked out her other leg from beneath her, and did his own heel drop straight down onto her stomach as she landed. As she took the hit, she focused chakra to her stomach to lessen the blow. The wind was still knocked out of her.

'_Where have I seen this kind of kick before?'_ Rolling away, she got up and then did a heel drop similar to Naruto's. As it hit the ground, a fissure formed under Naruto, who leaped away. Running to her left, she did another heel drop, forming a cross patter on the ground. Leaping towards him, she brought her fist to the ground, causing the earth to give away underneath him. But since the floor was very weakened, it gave way to a deep pit.

As Naruto fell, he saw Sakura throw down many kunais. There were so many, that it was difficult to count. As he landed, he rolled around to avoid as many kunais as possible. Eventually, all were avoided. Naruto was ready to stand back up but instead he felt several sharp objects stab him from the back. He looked at his chest and saw multiple kunais sticking out of it. He pulled himself off and let the Kyuubi heal him. He looked around in the pit.

The kunais that Sakura threw down had embedded themselves into the ground and then reversed their position, pointing upwards. It appeared that they went deep into the ground and then returned upwards to stab the opponent's back, probably attached by chakra strings, forming a spike pit. Only people who had supreme chakra control could do this with. A few of them wore a red shiny coat made of Naruto's blood. Though the wounds had healed, the blood was still evident. Learning what he had from Itachi, he gathered some flames and burned the blood away, erasing any blood traces on them. Climbing up the wall via chakra, he reached the opening and climbed out.

Had it not been for Kyuubi, he would have died.

Sakura simply stared, shocked that the man she was facing was able to simply climb out. Not many did, and even so, none of them were in as good condition as Naruto was. From what she could tell, there were some bloodstains and rips his cloak, but he seemed to be as fine as rain. He showed no signs of pain. She took a defensive position and pulled out a kunai. Who was he, she asked herself, and how was he able to step out of the pit without a single scratch?

Slowly, Naruto walked towards her with a smile. As he got closer, Sakura ran at him and swung her kunai at him. Naruto simply batted it out of her wrist and then pushed her onto the ground. Slowly, he took out the forehead protector. "I, as the administrator of Naruto's test, return your forehead protector to you. May you wear it with pride and happiness." Slowly, and much to Sasuke's envy, he put her forehead protector where it belonged: on her forehead. "Congratulations, Sakura-san, you have passed my test." As Naruto turned and began to walk away, she stopped him.

"Who are you?" she asked, "And why are you giving this to me? Normally, I would have to defeat someone in order to pass. You are perfectly fine!"

"Sakura-san, you have proven to me that you are strong enough to rely on yourself when the time comes. No longer are you a girl who sits back and lets your teammates do the work, but rather a young lady who can defend herself. That, Naruto told me, is the sole purpose of his test." With that, Naruto walked away, eventually leaving the training area. Sakura, taking her forehead protector off, looked at it with a smile.

There were no words that she could use to explain her happiness. Clutching it to her heart, she felt the pain slowly ebb away. No longer did she feel guilty of Naruto's death, nor did she have a feeling of unworthiness. Being a refined ninja, she did not show just how happy she was. But deep inside, her Inner Sakura was crying tears of happiness. She put on a smile and turned to Sasuke. He blushed under her stare and nonchalantly turned his head to the side.

Sakura, starting out with a giggle, began to laugh. Wait till she told her friends about this healing encounter. _'I'm so happy,'_ her Inner Sakura thought, _'I could kiss somebody!'_ Still looking at Sasuke, whose blush turned into a raging fire on his cheeks, she walked closer. _'He's the only one around, do it!'_ her inner self ordered. Quickly wrapping her arms around him, she delivered a long kiss to a blushing wide-eyed and confused but happy Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto not only had the strongest heart, but also had one that knew how to heal others.

_**Hospital, Several Days Later**_

Uchiha Itachi had finally been issued as healthy and was able to leave the godforsakenly helpful place. Sure, it was nice of those at the hospital to take care of him, but he really hated hospitals.

Deep down, he thought that all Uchihas did. But he couldn't put that theory to test anymore.

Of course, it wasn't all that bad with Yuki visiting, but given his condition, that was all she was allowed to do. It was no fun seeing his steady girlfriend in a case which seemed to taunt him with a sign that read, "Look but don't touch."

He exited the castle of cleanliness with Kisame, Hinata and Naruto next to him. It felt good to leave the helping hellhole. They had kept his belongings. That included his Akatsuki clothing, his ring, and his books. It had been extremely dull inside boring land while he wheeled himself around in a wheelchair. Normally, he would have been able to walk after a nights rest, but after his twelve-hour sex crusade with Yuki, his legs were unable to support him for a few days.

He saw Tsunade standing at the gates. As he approached, she made the notion to speak with him in private. Telling Hinata that he needed to talk to her, he left to have his chat with Tsunade.

"How are you doing?" she asked him.

"Now that I've left one of the many levels of (/) Hatori's Inferno (/), yes, I am doing well," he answered. "Is there a reason why you need to talk to me?"

"Well, I was hoping to get the names of your accomplices."

"Sorry, but if they felt that they should not tell you their names, then they had enough reason not to, and I have no right to tell you their names." Itachi turned around and began walking back.

"Matte, I need to ask you a favor." Itachi twisted around.

"A favor?"

"Jiraiya is currently on at the Hidden Village of Snow, gathering more information on the Akatsuki. I was hoping that you could tell him what you know."

"Why can't I just tell you?"

"Well… I want you to go there to try and convince him not to retire."

"He's retiring?" Itachi asked incredulously. Knowing the situation that Konoha was in, losing Jiraiya would cost them big time. But he had an idea to prevent his retirement. He may have to compromise a few things but Konoha was top priority.

"I sent him away a day ago. You'll need to catch up to him."

"Don't worry, I'll get him to stay." The last words said, Itachi left and returned to his students.

"Itachi-sensei, what took you so long?" Naruto, in a peeved manner, asked.

"Tsunade-sama wanted to see how I was doing." Itachi turned around. "Come with me, we're leaving." As Kisame and Itachi went, Naruto and Hinata followed.

"Itachi-sensei, where are we going exactly?" Hinata asked.

Itachi returned with, "We're going to the Hidden Village of Snow."

* * *

'_The Hidden Village of Snow is a very well known hidden village. Although its shinobi may not match up to those of the Leaf, it is famous for other things. The shinobis are trained to survive harsh conditions, such as enduring a harsh snowy night in the mountains. Also, they are known as the most resourceful ninjas of the ninja world; it has been rumored that the ninjas are able to outlast any onslaught brought on by the weather._

'_But that's not all the Hidden Village of Snow is known for. Having its name derived from its surroundings, it is most obvious that the place is snowy all year round. Thus, because of its natural beauty, many couples will get married there. There are many honeymoon resorts, which all offer a wonderful window view of the scenery. Also, known of them are too expensive._

'_There are also many chapels for couples to get married at. At almost every block, there is a chapel. The prices are reasonable ones and offer everything._

'_There is, however, a special kind of chapel in the Village of Snow. Missing Nins know where it is, though few law-abiding people know where it is. It's called the Red Chapel. It is here that Missing Nins would get married. Normal chapels would report the pair immediately while this chapel simply lets them marry.'_

All this is written down in the book, Encyclopedia Ninja. It is a wonderful source of information and describes how one can get the best out of a village for less than thirty yen a day. Also, written across beneath the title of the cover is its slogan: "Don't Panic." Many people find this book rather comforting.

However, there is a book that is more informative than the Encyclopedia Ninja. More intriguing than it. More perverted than it.

It is the Encyclopedia Ninja: Adult Version. Super-rare, it was compiled with the help of Jiraiya, the famous sennin that isn't. In here, there is more information than the usual regular copy of Encyclopedia Ninja. It offers more entries and also goes into deeper detail.

But, as everything else written by Jiraiya, it also holds perverted information. Take the entry Hyuuga as an example:

'_If the world was still under an imperialistic ruling, the Hyuugas would be royalty. They are the top clan of Konoha. Not only are they powerful politically and physically, they are also rich. If someone becomes an enemy of the Hyuugas, chances are neither they or their bank account will live to see the next day.'_

'_One of the most feared things of the Hyuugas is their own personalized taijutsu, Jyuuken. Relying on their Byakuugan, they can see the Tenketsu Points (located on page 1,307) and seal them off with a small burst of chakra. Each different point will create different effects, such as losing the use of one's hands or, what really made people fear them, an instant kill.'_

That would be where the entry would end. However, the Encyclopedia Ninja: Adult Version would continue. Here is what it says:

'_If a man were to marry into the Hyuuga family, he would be a lucky man indeed. Not only would he soon live like a king, but he would also have the wife of any man's dream. All Hyuuga women are something that would seem to be found only in legends or even angels sent to earth from heaven. Here are just a few reasons why some would think so:_

'_1. They have the perfect bodies. Their skin is of a creamy color and their breasts fit perfectly into a man's hand. 2. They climax easily. 3. Their pale lavender eyes are, considered by some, very extremely erotic. 4. For men who like to listen to their partner's moans, they have a tendency to yell. 5. Hyuuga women, after their first experience of sex, become easily aroused._

'_However, this is most likely because of certain Hyuuga laws of censorship. No Hyuuga may know about sex in any manner. Anyone who does know is condemned as one who commits high treason against his or her clan and is executed.'_

No one really knew how Jiraiya was able to get his hands on this kind of private information. But there are those who agree with this, stating that every single sentence is true.

Naruto was one lucky bastard.

* * *

The team of four had arrived at the Village of Snow and, as its name implies, it was snowing. It was nearing darkness. Having already rented rooms, the group went out at night. Naruto and Hinata looked around. Both of them sported a rather nervous look that only they could see. It wasn't the first time that the group had been to a foreign village. 

But normally, they would be fulfilling a certain objective, like killing a certain person.

But today, they're not doing some mission. Today, they are taking their relationship to a higher level. Today is that day that Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata will become married.

But first they had to find a chapel. "Itachi-sensei, where exactly is this chapel that you're talking about?" Naruto asked. Itachi simply waved it aside.

"The chapel is under a very powerful genjutsu. From the outside, it looks like a rundown shack, but in truth, it actually looks very nice on the inside," Kisame answered for him. Itachi then turned down an alley and his team followed him. He stopped and started feeling up a wall. After a moment of searching, he pushed a panel. A door on the side of a wall slid open.

The door carefully closed behind them. As they entered the seemingly dull shack, their eyes were greeted with a sudden glow. As the light died down, the dull shack was no longer just some place with wooden walls. Suddenly, it had gained concrete walls, adorned with lit torches. Chandeliers lit with red candles hung low from the ceiling. As they continued walking a man greeted them. "Hello, and welcome to the Red Chapel."

The first thing they noticed was the eye patch over his left eye. Apart from that, he was seemingly normal. His voice was comforting, despite his look. The man turned to Itachi. "So who's getting married to this lovely young lady?" Hinata backed away from the man; she didn't like the way he was acting towards her.

"These two," Itachi said, pointing to Naruto and Hinata. The man scanned the both of them.

"Alright then, you two follow me." As they went, they entered a room with a red carpet leading to a pedestal. He led them to stand in front on the carpet while he stood behind the pedestal. As they approached, they looked at each other.

It was finally happening. They waited three years to get married. And now here they were, no longer being just boyfriend and girlfriend, but will soon become husband and wife. They would be acting as one.

"So normally, people would go through all the fancy pants stuff that people will normally do when some person is reading to a couple who will be married." The man cleared his throat. "But I'll just cut to the chase." He pointed at Naruto, who panicked under his one-eyed glance. "Do you," the man gestured for his name.

"U-Uzumaki Naruto."

"Take," the man pointed at Hinata.

"Hyuuga H-Hinata," she answered in a quiet voice.

"Whoa!" the man said, leaning back in a surprised manner. Hinata cringed at the sound of his voice. He then turned to Naruto and whispered, "You are one lucky bastard." He continued the ceremony. "Do you, Uzumaki Naruto, take Hyuuga Hinata as your," the man snickered at this, "wedded wife?"

"I do," Naruto answered.

The man turned to Hinata, "Same question."

"I do."

"Excellent. You may now put the ring onto her finger." He looked at the pair, who made no movement. "No ring, huh? Well that's okay." The man pulled out a box. "I've got plenty. Here, on the house," the man tossed Naruto a pair of wedding rings, "these should fit." They put the rings onto their hands.

The man raised his hands up. "By the power vested in me by whoever the hell is out there, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." With that, Naruto and Hinata quickly turned to each other, hugged, and mashed their lips into a soft gentle kiss. As they pulled apart, the man thrust a marriage certificate into Naruto's hands, which he later inserted into his coat pocket. The newly weds stared into each other's eyes through their forehead protectors and smiled. Blushing a little and holding hands, they turned to leave.

The one-eyed man led them back to the room where they entered. Holding hands, the pair looked around. "Kisame-sensei, where's Itachi-sensei?" Naruto asked out loud. The shark man shrugged.

"He's out looking for someone. Meanwhile, he has assigned me the task of taking you to your room."

_**Itachi**_

Itachi leapt from roof to roof. _'Where is it?'_ Itachi knew that simply looking for Jiraiya was a waste of time. Instead, looking for women's bathhouses was a much better way to find him. Landing on a tree, he scanned around.

There. It was towards the east, indicated by a bit of steam that quickly disappeared in the cold air. He leapt from top to top and finally landed on a pine tree. As he looked, there was a man clad in a red top. It had to be him. Leaping off and landing next to him, he tapped his shoulder.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sama." The old man turned to face Itachi. A small smile flitted across the old man's face.

"Itachi-san, I did not expect you to be here. Is there anything you wish to tell me?" the old man asked.

"Well, there's not much. So far, the Akatsuki has been doing the same thing."

"Nothing new? I thought that they would have disbanded by now..."

"No." Itachi took a seat on a bench. "So what's the talk about you retiring?

"I can't focus on my work. Every time when I'm peeping at girls, I expect Naruto to come and reveal my position to them. And he's not there. There's a hole in me, Itachi. I failed the Yondaime's last request. I can't even look at the Hokage Monument or even his picture without feeling ashamed of myself. So, I've decided to write the last volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Also, after this mission, Tsunade is letting me retire from being a shinobi."

Itachi cringed at the mentioning of the finishing of the Icha Icha Paradise series. "How far are you in writing the book?"

"I'm almost done, I just need the right amount of smut in it and then it'll be perfect," Jiraiya answered.

"Why don't you just write some?"

"I need inspiration for those, Itachi. Otherwise, it's just not the same."

"Inspiration, you say? Well… there is this one friend of mine…"

"What about him?"

"Well… He's recently gotten married. Why don't you get a peep at that?"

"Hmm…"

"Come on, it'll be fine."

"… Forget it. I just can't do this anymore. I can't write dirty books without feeling guilty. I mean, how much time have I spent watching girls when I should have been training Naruto, perhaps helping him more with his summoning jutsu? And thirteen years after the Yondaime asked me to take care of him, I show up, later than ever. I can't do this anymore; I'm ashamed of myself." Slowly, Jiraiya turned and walked away.

"Hyuuga."

Jiraiya turned around. "What did you say?"

"Hyuuga. He's married to a Hyuuga woman. And you know how they are." Jiraiya shuddered at the thought of a naked Hyuuga woman. "The perfect body, yells and screams heard across the village," Itachi taunted. Jiraiya walked to Itachi, then stopped. He repeated the motion again. "You know you want to. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Jiraiya. Think: the perfect amount of smut will lead to the perfect book, which will lead to a perfect retirement fund. Pass this up, and you'll regret it."

Jiraiya walked up to him and grabbed Itachi by his coat. With all feelings of shame behind him, he offered, "Show me where and I will give you a signed limited edition copy of the last volume." Itachi smiled. Whether out of possibly fulfilling his mission or the thought of the Icha Icha Paradise series continuing, he did not know. As Jiraiya let go of his cloak, he led the old man to a high perch on a tree. The tree was a bit far away from a hotel with a rather large window. The distance wasn't much of a problem; Jiraiya had a spyglass. Hearing may be a problem though. But, if it were a Hyuuga as Itachi said, that wouldn't be too big of a problem…

"Do you see that window?" Itachi pointed directly in front of him. Jiraiya nodded. "I've put up a genjutsu to make it seem like it's closed when it's actually open. They'll be in there. Now make yourself invisible with your peeping jutsu." As Jiraiya did, the door to the room opened and Itachi disappeared.

Naruto and Hinata entered the room. As Naruto closed the door, Hinata deactivated her Byakuugan and removed of her forehead protector and hat. Gently setting them down on a drawer, she sat on the bed. Naruto did likewise and sat next to her. He looked over at her.

Every particle in her body was screaming of her nervousness. Her cheeks were a flushed red. She was staring down towards her lap. Her frame shrunk a size or two. Most noticeably, she began to tap her fingers against each other. Gently, Naruto took a hold of her hands and slowly put them by her side. She looked up at him and turned her face back down when he returned the gaze. Using his index finger to push up her chin, he closed his eyes and softly kissed her lips. He pulled away and opening his eyes to see a red-faced Hinata.

"It's not like we haven't kissed before," he said to her.

"S-Sorry, but…" her voice lacked the usual volume.

"Scared?" he finished for her. Hinata shakily nodded. A small frown was present before it was replaced by an understanding smile. "It's okay, we don't have to… do it."

"No!" Hinata almost yelled. "I'm… I'm just j-jittery." Naruto looked at her, seeing through her statement. "It's not that I don't want to… but… How should we start?"

"Don't know where to begin… well, we could have it start as a snuggle session," Naruto said as he maneuvered behind her and put his arms around her waist from the back. He began to kiss the back of her neck. He kissed around the left side and began to gently suckle a spot where he could feel her vein pulse. As he did so, he felt her pulse rush through it faster and faster. Hinata tilted her head to the right side to give him easier access to it. Blood pumped to her face, giving it a heavy shade of red and leaving her breathless.

Slowly, she felt Naruto's lips leave her neck and his hands drift up to her shoulders and removing her cloak. Her eyes half-closed, she let the cloak drop from her shoulders. As Naruto set it on the ground, he massaged her shoulders. The fabric of her black and red shirt was thin; the cloak was supposed to keep out the cold.

"Hinata-chan," he whispered into her ear.

"Y-Yes?" she squeaked.

"…I need to mark you."

"W-What?"

"Kyuubi told me that it is important that I mark you as mine."

"W-Why?"

"I… I need to put a bit of my blood over an open wound of yours. It would allow me to use a birth control jutsu he taught me," Naruto kissed the back of her neck. "Would you let me do that?" Hinata nodded, trusting Naruto. She slid down a portion of her shirt, revealing her left shoulder. Taking out a kunai, he made a small cut on her shoulder. She winced at the pain. Acting quickly, Naruto bit his thumb and wiped some of the blood over the wound. There was a hissing noise as the wound sealed up. As he looked closely, there was a small spiral in its place.

Hinata turned so that she was facing Naruto. Cautiously, she placed her hands onto his shoulders and kissed him. She almost gasped when she felt Naruto's tongue flitter across her lips, begging for entry. Blushing, she opened her mouth and let his tongue explore it, running it along her teeth and clashing with her tongue. Carefully and shakily, she removed Naruto's cloak and gently set it down beside hers. She felt the warmth of Naruto's arms circling around her. As he brought her closer, she sent her tongue into his mouth, providing the same service. They moaned into each other's mouths, enjoying the sound.

Slowly forgetting about her timidity, she tugged at Naruto's black and red shirt. Almost shocked, Naruto removed it, revealing his firmly toned upper body. During snuggle sessions, neither of them would have taken off their shirts or pants. But this was going to be different. He blushed as his heart rate jumped. He felt her hands on his chest, feeling almost electric now that the shirt was not there. Taking his hand, he tugged at her shirt. She gave off a surprised yelped, then blushed as she removed it.

Naruto looked at her body, feeling his member hardening. He was sure that she felt it. Slowly, his eyes moved down to Hinata's black and red bra, which hid her breasts behind it, drinking in the looks. Turning his eyes back to Hinata's blushing face, he kissed her lips. Once again, their tongues made battle, their arms preoccupied in feeling each other's body. Naruto's calloused hands rubbed against Hinata's creamy body while her delicate hands made friction with his tough skin. As they each reached sensitive spots on each other's body, they shuddered and moaned once more.

With the growing heat, Hinata was beginning to feel like she was in an oven. Beads of sweat formed on her body. Opening her eyes during a kiss, she saw sweat form on Naruto's brow. _'He looks so sexy,'_ she thought to herself. Closing her eyes, she led him to the floor so that they were both standing. Gathering up her courage once more, she undid Naruto's black and red pants. While she did so, she roughly pushed her hand against his member, surprising him.

In turn, Naruto undid her black and red pants. She gasped and broke her kiss with Naruto when she felt him brush the inside of her thigh with his hand. Blushing hard, she looked towards Naruto's eyes, only to find that they weren't there. Instead, she felt his hands circle around her and pull her into him. She felt his hardened member against he small of her back and blushed even harder.

Naruto began to nibble on her ear. As she was busy moaning, Naruto quickly formed his hands into a demon seal and then drew a tiny circle around her navel. He then quickly rubbed her stomach, feeling her moans become louder and louder. Her eyes closed, she did not notice that one hand had gone to her back until Naruto removed her black and red bra. Blushing, she retaliated by pulling down Naruto's black and red boxers, leaving him naked. Naruto kicked them aside and pulled Hinata even closer.

Then, Naruto cupped Hinata's breasts in his hands. He marveled at such a perfect fit and gently squeezed them, causing Hinata to turn her moans into helpless ones. She closed her eyes and let Naruto please her. He lightly pinched her hardening nipples, getting small yelps from her. She put her hands into his messy golden hair, running them through it while he inhaled the scent of her hair. It was like fresh fruit, a smell that he enjoyed. While still nibbling her ear and using his left hand to squeeze her left breast, he took his right hand and gently held her right one. He brought it down to her stomach.

"Hinata-chan," he gently said.

"H…Hai?" she said through her helpless moans.

"Have you ever masturbated before?" She shook her head because it was easier than saying no.

"W-What does… What does it mean?" she said through gasps. Having lived a more sheltered life, she had never heard of such a word and therefore would not know its meaning.

"It's when you touch yourself for pleasure," he summoned chakra to his right hand and caused her right hand to stick to it; he had total control over her right hand. He then slinked it over her black and red panties.

"N-Naruto-kun… what are you doing?" she said as she tried to yank her hand away, but to no avail. That was when Naruto gently pushed into the thin fabric using her hand that was connected to his. Hinata arched back and gave off a loud wail, her face reaching a crimson color. He swirled the finger in a circular motion, earning another loud wail from her. He could feel her panties becoming damp from the fluid being produced. Using his right hand, he slid it off and continued to rub her opening.

"Simply showing you what it means," Naruto said to Hinata with a taunting voice. Instead of answer, she took her left hand and covered her mouth. She couldn't let the other people in the hotel know what was going on, much less Itachi and Kisame. How would she be able to bear the shame if they found out?

However, Naruto did not like the fact that he could only hear muffled moans. Using his left hand, he gathered chakra and her hand stuck to his. Then, he brought it back onto her left breast and gently squeezed. Her moans became helpless wails as she reached a higher decibel. Her breaths were short as her face burned even redder. A knot was slowly tying itself inside her stomach. Her legs gave way beneath her and both ended up in a kneeling position, Hinata on Naruto's thighs. She clenched her eyes.

Then, Naruto pushed in two pairs of fingers into her opening. He licked her ear as she elicited even louder wails. Inside her, the knot tied itself a little tighter. She felt hot all over. Suddenly, Naruto took their right thumbs and traced a circle around her clit.

The knot suddenly untied itself. Her face blushing redder than before, she arched her back and screamed as spasms of pleasure rocked through her body as the liquid fire exited her. Her eyes opened, revealing the lust-filled pale lavender irises behind them. Naruto found them rather erotic.

As her climax ended, she let her head droop down. Releasing her hands from his, he drew a small heart around her navel with his right index finger using her fluids as paint and kissed her cheek. She turned her head to him. Her breath slowly coming back to her, she said, "Oh… Oh Naruto-kun… that felt… felt so good." But Naruto silently hushed her. Carrying her bridal style, he set her down in the middle of the bed. There, he stood back and looked at her.

"Hinata-chan, you're so beautiful." Her hair was fanned beneath her that, along with her pale lavender eyes, made her look exotic. Though she was covered in sweat, it gave her already beautiful skin a bright gleam. He climbed on top of her and spread her legs, positioning himself between them.

As he did so, he got a whiff of her sex. It gave off a musky scent that drove him wild. His face continued to travel up past her breasts and stopped at her face. He kissed her lips gently. He took his left hand and gently held her face. She leaned into the hand, her eyes closed, looking peaceful beneath him. Slowly, he brought his mouth to her left breast gently licking it and feeling it harden beneath his tongue. Hinata gave out moans as she felt herself becoming aroused once more. Switching his mouth to her other nipple, he gave it the same attention.

"This next part will hurt for a moment," he said to her. She nodded in understanding. He then kissed her lips once more. At the same moment, he thrust himself into the slick folds of her sex. He heard a yelp of pain from Hinata. He looked up at her eyes and saw beads of tears form at the edge of her eyes. "Are you okay?" he gently asked her.

"…It hurts…" she said. Naruto looked downcast for a moment.

"It's okay, we don't have to go all the way tonight," he said as he began to pull himself out but was stopped by Hinata's arms.

"No! I… I want this. Just give me a moment," she said, pulling him back down and mashing their lips together in a kiss. They stayed like that, simply wanting this moment to last. Reluctantly, Naruto pulled away. He could tell that Hinata didn't like it either; her lips were pouting.

"Do you feel ready now?" he asked. Hinata nodded. Taking a deep breath, he once again pushed into her. This time, her yelp was replaced with a moan. He looked at her face as he continued to push and pull out of her. Her eyelids were half closed, revealing a bit of her lusty eyes beneath them. The blush was beginning to rebuild itself. Her mouth was open, eliciting moans which became louder and louder. She seemed to have lost control of her hips as they moved up and down in accordance to his rate.

Naruto marveled at the wonderful feeling. His own eyes half closed, he pushed and pulled out of her. He felt her thighs squeeze him and her fingers dig into his back. His breath came up short as he enjoyed the sensation. It made him feel different. It made him feel happy. It made him feel complete.

But most of all, it made him feel human.

He looked at her body. Her breasts bounced up and down whenever he thrust in and pulled out of her. Slowly, Naruto began to lose control of his self. As he pushed and pulled out of her faster and faster, her moans became louder and louder. He leaned forward to give another kiss to her lips. But it was short lived.

Hinata climaxed once more. "NARUTO-KUN!" she screamed. Naruto swore that the whole village had heard her. As she climaxed, she arched her back, throwing her chest out to him and her eyes were wide open.

The screaming of his name, the stare of her erotically blank eyes, and the three seconds of her muscles spasming around his member triggered his own climax. Leaning to her ear, he moaned her name into as he shot his hot seed into her. After, he rolled off to the side and looked at her face. They were both sweaty and hot.

Her eyes were closed now and her blush was slowly receding. In every possible way, Hinata was beautiful. Deep down, Naruto thanked whoever the hell was out there for giving him a wonderful wife. Standing up, he covered her in blankets and moved to sit by her side and began to gently stroke her cheek with his hand. She once again leaned into it, craving its warmth, until she fell asleep. Then, he got fully dressed in his Akatsuki garbs and covered his eyes with his forehead protector. Turning around, he whispered, "I'll be right back," and disappeared from the room.

He felt his presence.

_**The Tree**_

Jiraiya was at a loss. It was a Hyuuga, no doubt. But for her to scream out Naruto's name was something he was not prepared for. What did this mean? Was the boy still alive? He sat down on the branch he was on, the shock overwhelming him. He gave out a sigh.

"Ero-sennin." Jiraiya almost dropped his spyglass when he heard the name. The old man turned around, hardly being able to believe what he heard. Only one boy, no, only one mandared to call him that name.

"Naruto?" the old man warily asked, slowly turning around to face him.

The boy slowly slid off his forehead protector and removed his hat, showing his full head to the old man. "I'm the only one who ever called you Ero-sennin," he gave off with a small smile. Jiraiya was at a loss of words; here was a man that was deemed dead for three years who was now a part of the Akatsuki, the one organization they were trying to keep away from him.

"That Hyuuga girl… the one who died the same time you did… is she…" Jiraiya was unable to finish.

"Hinata is still alive and is now my wife."

"Oh..." was Jiraiya's reply. "So... why did you leave Konoha? You could have destroyed it."

"I left because I know that, other than you, Tsunade-baachan, Iruka-sensei, and Konohamaru and his friends, there's no one worth protecting. And because of that, I decided to spare the village." Naruto thought for a moment. "Speaking of the baa-chan, don't tell her I'm alive; I prefer to tell her myself."

"Well... why did you join the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya asked.

"At that time, Hinata and I had nowhere to go. That was when we recieved the letter, asking for us to join."

"So... you two are a partof them now?" the old sennin said. He prepared a kunai, just in case.

"We were, but not anymore. Hinata and I didn't like it in there. When we went to Konoha to return Sasuke, the baa-chan asked if we would like to join Itachi and Kisame in their mission to bring down the Akatsuki. We did so, and, hopefully, we can bring them down soon."

Jiraiya smiled, but still didn't put the kunai away. "It's nice to know that you're on our side. But how about a match?" Before Naruto could answer, Jiraiya charged.

Before Jiraiya took four steps, a sweep of one of Naruto's tails knocked him off the tree. He landed on the soft snow, the air escaping his lungs. He was surprised.

But he smiled, _'Naruto's getting good now. It'll only be a matter of time before he becomes Hokage.'_

Naruto walked over to the edge of the tree. Using his tails, he grasped Jiraiya's notepad and looked. It was comprised of naked girls, either in poses or just standing still. He looked at the most recent and was rather angry that Jiraiya drew Hinata. Tearing out the picture, he burned it, letting the ashes fall to the ground. He then dropped the notebook dangerously close to Jiraiya's head.

"If you ever use _any_ information you got from Hinata and me, you will pay dearly," Naruto began to walk away.

"How would you know? Do you read my books?" Jiraiya said. He followed it up with his signature laugh.

"My wife does."

Jiraiya almost dropped his spyglass again, as Naruto disappeared and reappeared in his room. Walking over to the blinds, he removed the genjutsu and closed the blinds before taking off his clothes and joining his wife in sleep.

_**The Next Morning**_

Naruto woke up to the feeling of a finger tracing lines on his chest. Hekepthis eyes closed and instead activated his Gensougan.Hinata was awake and lying next to him, using her fingers to tickle his chest.He deactivated it and pretended to sleep.**(Good morning, Kit.)**

_'Good morning? You must be in a good mood.'_

**(Our minds are linked. Therefore, we share feelings, both emotional and physical. I haven't had sex in seventeen years.)**

_'Yeah... whatever.'_

**(She's a tight fit.)**

_'Shut up.'_ And Kyuubi stayed silent. Naruto opened his eyes.

"Good morning, honey," Naruto said with a smile. Hinata smiled back.

"I'm hungry, Naruto-kun," she said. Naruto failed to find the meaning behind it as he stood up.

"Well, if you want I can get you something to eat," he said before putting his clothes on. But as he was about to slip on his boxers, Hinata dragged him back into bed. With an oomph, he landed on his back. Hinata quickly climbed on top, giving him a full view of her body.

"You're so stupid sometimes," she said with a giggle, "but that's what I like about you." Without another word, she straddled his waist and kissed him.

_**Thirty Minutes Later, Outside of Their Room**_

Itachi knocked on the door. "Hey! We need to leave!" Instead of receiving a response, he only got moans.

"Look," Kisame said, "can't we just let them finish? What you're doing is rather embarrassing. We could end up waking the others in here."

He knocked on the door once again. "Quit it already! We need to leave _now_!"

Itachi was in a bad mood. He knew that he would not get much sleep that night. He wanted to spend a night out on the town, but knew he couldn't because he was a Missing Nin. So, he had to stay in the room, trying to shut out Naruto and Hinata's sounds.

Moans continued to come from the room. As Itachi was about to bang on the door again, it opened. He looked at it and saw a fluffy orange tail hang something on the doorknob before retreating back and shutting the door. It turned out to be a sign of some sort. He read it out loud, "Do not disturb." Itachi hung his head in defeat. The pair waited. As they did so, a muffled yell was heard from inside the room. Slowly, the moans subsided. There was some shuffling of clothes and the door opened.

"Ready to go?" Itachi said, his voice trembling a bit. The pair nodded. With that, the group of four disappeared and reappeared on the rooftop. Leaping from roof to roof, they left the village and headed back to the Akatsuki headquarters.

* * *

(/) - It's a parody of the book Dante's Inferno, where a man is sent to hell and he sees the many levels of it. Not sure if you guys caught on, so I posted it here just in case. 


	22. It's Over

Somehow, the words sorry just don't cut it today. I was heavily laid down by homework, which seemed to have miraculouslypiled up that week. Also, I wrote a Golden Sun oneshot and put it up on adult fanfiction. Though I had my storyline planned out, I didn't know how it would play out. So I did my best. Sorry it was such a long wait.

Scorpio V1.2: I meant to say this earlier, but Itachi does have his own weapon. Its a pair of katars. Search it up on Google images and it'll get you some pictures of it. I'm not sure where they originated from, but they're exotic and I feel it fit Itachi well.

Blackknife: Thank you for telling me. I guess I got them confused.

Dex0791: I know that I haven't written much about the Rasengan, but I feel that it is also a tool, as you will see it used in this chapter.

As for the reviewers who said that the chapter sucked, I leave no comment for their lack of reading the notes I posted.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 22: It's Over

An omen is a sign that superstitious people believe can foretell what will happen in the near future. One of the common omens is when one's knees ache. It is believed that a storm will come.

Encyclopedia Ninja has a rather large section on superstitions (page 1103) and omens (page 821). Though many skip these sections because they believe it to be a bunch of blarney, some people, like Uchiha Itachi, pay close attention.

We will come back to Uchiha Itachi.

The most known omens and superstitions are often those that refer to ninjas. For example, if a ninja lightly tosses a kunai into the air and lets it fall to the ground, the way it lands will determine their fate. If it lands on its side, then the ninja will survive his or her next mission. However, if it falls point down and lands erect, then the ninja will die. Another omen is when their teacup fractures. It is believed that when it happens, a relative of yours is in danger. One more is that if a black snake crossed your path, you and those with you would be in grave danger.

However, not all superstitious signs will lead to bad things. If a fruit of any kind falls from a tree onto your head, then you must quickly eat it. It is believed to give you supernatural strength. Another good luck sign is when a person dressed in white quickly runs by you, without giving you a second thought. It's believed that it's your guardian angel and that it will protect you.

Back to Uchiha Itachi.

Uchiha Itachi was feeling insecure. His straightforward look, however, hid it. Then again, those around him could read him like a book, having been with him for at least three years each.

The trek back to the Akatsuki headquarters was rather ominous. The sky was constantly overcast and dark. It looked like it was ready to rain at any moment. But the group continued on their journey back, no matter how bleak it looked.

"Itachi-sensei, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

Itachi simply replied, "Nothing… nothing's wrong." Uchiha Itachi was a rather superstitious man. He believed in many things. If a fruit dropped on his head, he would quickly eat it, believing it would give him supernatural strength. He could never really understand why he was as superstitious as he is.

On their way back to the headquarters, everything that depicted bad luck Itachi saw. His teacup fractured. When he was twirling a kunai (Itachi, after telling his brother the truth, had somehow managed to find his kunais once again outside of battle), he dropped it and it landed face down. And though no one else seemed to have seen it, he swore that a black snake had crossed his path.

As the group neared the headquarters, Itachi shivered. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, something very bad.

Itachi's theory was confirmed when the group opened the gates of the complex. As the gates opened, Leona almost fell out of the doorway; Kisame had managed to catch her before she hit the hard ground fall. Kisame let her down gently as Hinata quickly knelt down by her side to administer medical attention.

Itachi took a look at her body. "What happened?" he asked. Leona's had been battered beyond hope. She had large cuts and gashes on her body that allowed blood to flow freely from her. Her light blue hair was stained crimson from her blood. Her weapon, a pair of metal fans, lay bloodied and dented beside her. Even though Hinata kept reassuring Leona that she would live, deep down inside Hinata knew that if they didn't act fast, Leona was going to die. Even her healing jutsus could not save her from the blood loss.

Leona could only mutter out one word. "…Rugal…" Leona then closed her eyes.

Taking out a blood pill, Hinata quickly put it into her mouth. But Leona did not consume the pill. Instead, she lay there lifeless and dead. Hinata sighed. This was the first time one of her patients died. Then again, she did not have to use her healing jutsus often; the Akatsuki members were topnotch fighters. But the feeling of failure still resided in her.

Standing up, she turned to Itachi, "She's dead," what she was about to say cause her stomach to churn, "Should we dispose of the body?" when dealing with dead nins, normally their bodies needed to be disposed of. Otherwise, other villages could learn their secrets. It just felt so wrong to Hinata.

Before Itachi could answer, Leona's body suddenly began to pale. It also looked like the contents of her body were being drained away, leaving only the skin. Slowly, process stopped, leaving a flattened Leona. A fierce wind blew by them. Slowly, the body began to crumble into dust and was carried away into the wind. Her fans crumbled away and also fled with its owner.

Itachi did not like where this is going. Looking into the entrance of the Akatsuki lair, he took a deep breath and entered, beckoning his team to follow.

The place reeked of blood. The walls were stained with the red liquid. The dancing flames of the torches eerily lit the hallway, making the blood appear to be flames in the background. It was as if Satan himself had decided to move here and chose to bring Hell with him too. As they traveled deeper into the lair, they sensed only a strong aura emanating from somewhere deep inside.

Slowly and silently, they approached a room. The room looked no different than the hallway. No bodies were present and the walls had blood on them. That was what Hinata's Byakuugan told them. As far as she could see, there was no one alive in the complex. There wasn't even a body. All there was a giant chakra source.

All this was beginning to confuse Naruto. And when Naruto was confused, he turned to Kyuubi for help. _'What's going on, Kyuubi?'_

The beast remained silent.

'_Hello… earth to Kyuubi?'_

No response. This was the first time Kyuubi had not responded to his call. But he felt Kyuubi there inside of him. So what was going on? Naruto tried to take a feel of what the demon was doing.

The beast remained unmoving. It's breathing was calm and relaxed. From what Naruto could tell, it was in a sitting position. Something was emanating from the demon fox.

It was meditating. But why was it meditating, and for what though? Normally, when one tried to meditate, he or she tries to clear their minds of distracting thoughts, normally preparing for a battle or trial. He tried to meditate once, but it didn't help him too much. Naruto gave up on trying to contact Kyuubi.

"What does Kyuubi say about the situation?" Itachi asked.

"I don't know," Naruto responded, "He's meditating."

"Since when did demons have to meditate?" Kisame asked.

"Ever since now," was Naruto's response. _'You better tell me what's going on later…'_

Itachi turned to Hinata, "What should we do now?"

"Well, I do see a high chakra source coming from the Throne Room," Hinata answered.

"Then that's where we're going. Hopefully what's in there will answer our questions as to what happened here." Without another word, Itachi turned and began their way to the throne room.

As they traveled deeper inside, Naruto took a closer look at the blood on the hallway. It was old and dried, though the blood closer to the entrance looked fresh. Taking his fingernail, he flaked off a few pieces of it.

"Don't touch it, Naruto-kun," Hinata said in a rather motherly fashion. Naruto quickly withdrew his hand.

"This blood is old. Whatever happened here must have happened days ago," Naruto answered.

"Whoever did this must enjoy the sight of blood. I didn't even think humans could bleed this much," Itachi said out loud. For all Itachi knew, there were only Kisame, Naruto, Hinata, the other seven, and himself. There was no way that this much blood could have spilled from their bodies. While Itachi thought, the rest of the walk was done in silence.

Finally arriving at the Throne room, Itachi whispered to the group, "Get into sweep formation." Nodding in agreement, they got ready. Itachi and Kisame went up against the wall on the left side while Naruto and Hinata were on the right side. Using his right hand, Naruto prepared a Rasengan. Then he rammed it into the middle of the double doors.

The doors flew off its hinges and were blown into the room. As soon as the doors flew, the group quickly entered, each one taking up a corner in the room. They then turned inward, facing the center of the room.

What they saw inside was not what they expected to see.

There was a man. But it was no ordinary man. From what they could tell from his chakra signature, the man was very powerful. Chakra seemed to almost burst out of him. There seemed to be more than Naruto could have.

But the man looked like every other ordinary man. There was a man who wore only a pair of white pants and black shoes. He had a circle on his chest with seven lines coming out the edge of it that tapered thinner and thinner, though it looked like it was missing a line. His face seemed abnormally perfect and he had short and messy white hair. His eyes were closed, as if he would open them, expecting something would happen. The man was sitting on the chair, crossing his legs and resting his head in one of his hands, which was propped on the armrest. His body was thick and muscular. What made the room different than the rest was that there was no blood on the walls.

Seeing as how the man remained motionless, save for his steady breathing, Itachi approached the man. "What happened here?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"Everyone was killed," was the man's simple reply.

"Who killed the rest of the members?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"They had to be dealt with, if I am to achieve my ultimate form."

"What happened to Rugal?" Slowly, a low chuckle was emanated from the sitting man.

The man stopped chuckling, wearing a sinister smile, "I am, or should I say, was Rugal."

"What do you mean?" Itachi continued asking.

"I am no longer the Rugal you know."

"Then who are you?"

The sitting man then slowly stood up. Slowly, he began to levitate about a foot above the ground and opened his eyes to reveal pitch-black pupils. "I am Orochi, the eight-headed snake demon."

"O… Orochi?" Naruto whispered to himself. He had never heard of this being before, not even from Kyuubi himself.

Normally, the story of Orochi was told to kids as a bedtime story to keep them from committing bad deeds. Parents would tell them that 'If you're going to be bad, then Orochi will eat you!'

Obviously, Naruto wouldn't know about it. But Hinata and Itachi did, having parents to tell them the fabled story.

The story of Orochi and the Three Clans is a famous bedtime story told to many young toddlers as they are lying in bed. As written in Encyclopedia Ninja, Orochi was an eight-headed snake demon. It was a vicious demon, which, every two years, demanded that eight virgins be sacrificed to him. People feared the demon, as it was said that its body covered the span of eight mountains and its tail sounded like thunder. Even other were rumored to demons feared it; when Orochi was on the loose the other famous demons were nowhere to be seen. Therefore, the people easily gave into the demon's demands. The demon always visited a different town each time and demanded the sacrifices. The only time when it would revisit a town twice was when it had already gone through all of the other towns once.

That was, until three ninja clans openly defied it and secretly planned to destroy it. They were the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans. The third clan's name was lost in time, and slowly faded away. It was rumored that the third clan's name was forgotten because its members had no bloodline limit. Whenever the story was told, the third clan would always remain nameless, though it was still given credit for stopping the demon.

The plan was that they would prepare eight giant barrels of sake for the demon to drink. When it was drunk, it would be easier to slay. So, the sake was prepared. When the demon came by the village, it saw the sake barrels. Each head drank deeply and was soon intoxicated. That was when the three clans surprised and attacked it. Each clan wore its clan color and insignia: the Hyuuga's were dressed in white and had a black circle with a white dot in the middle; the Uchihas were in blue and had their Uchiha fans. The story is usually told with the third clan wearing orange and having a red spiral on its back.

The three clans charged into battle valiantly. The army was built of many able-bodied male and female ninjas. The humans were able to battle on even ground with the demon, though each clan suffered losses. Eventually, the heads grew tired and were lopped off, thus ending the life of the eight-headed snake demon.

Later, the three clans sealed Orochi into a giant stone. Then, using three powerful items, they locked Orochi away, only allowing it to escape if the three items were brought together. They were the Hyuuga Earrings, the Uchiha Ring, and a necklace. The Hyuuga Earrings were two diamond studded, representing the Hyuuga's eyes. The Uchiha Ring was a bold band which had a ruby and gold bands coming in from the sides, forming the Sharingan. The necklace was simply a green stone with two white pearls on each side. Each of these items was passed down generation through generation, being given to the future head of the clan.

It is obvious why it is so popular in Konoha.

"Orochi? But that's just some bedtime story!" Itachi said. Secretly, he clutched the Uchiha Ring, which was in his pocket. For all he knew, he picked the ring off of his father's fallen body to remember him. There was no way that the stories could be true.

"It's something to keep kids from doing bad things!" Hinata yelled. Though she did not know it, she was wearing the Hyuuga Earrings. She was too afraid to wear it before, but she decided that she should wear it after she became married, since she had nothing to fear. Her mother told her that it was an heirloom passed down in her family to the firstborn child, male or female. The stories couldn't be true… could it?

'_Bedtime story? What have I missed?'_ thought Naruto.

**(Not much, Kit.)**

'_Now you're awake. Quick, who is this Orochi guy anyway?'_

**(He is a demon made of the Eight Legendary Beings. They are Ryu, Hitotsume-Kozou, Kappa, Rokurokubi, Yasha, Yuki-Onna, Tengu, and myself.)**

'_There are eight beings like you? You mean there are more people like Gaara and me?'_

**(No, you are the only person to have one of the Legendary Eight sealed in you. The Shukaku was manmade, but the Eight were made by the Kami to keep balance. You know the other seven members, excluding Hinata, Itachi and Kisame? They were the other Eight in their human forms.)**

'_So… this Orochi is like a super demon?'_

**(It could be described as that. However, Orochi would only be formed every two years when we demons would travel far from civilization and fought to see who was strongest. Then, when one was killed, the killer would absorb the soul of the dead demon. It would become stronger then the rest and kill them off, absorbing all of their souls and forming the Orochi demon. Then, we would go to a town and ask for a sacrifice of eight virgins. Once we received it, we traveled back to the place of our battle and, using the virgins, would resurrect ourselves, with our memories intact. I remember that I was the only one that did not want to form the Orochi.)**

'_Why were you the only one?' _Naruto received no reply._ 'So then what happened?'_

**(Though stories say that Orochi was sealed away, the truth is that we can no longer join souls to make the Orochi. The power to do so was taken away by three clans. They were the Hyuugas, the Uchihas, and the Uzumakis, your ancestors.)**

'_My family? They did that?'_

**(Yes. For eighteen hundred years Orochi went unheard of and the tale became a myth. Once we could no longer form the Orochi, we stayed in our normal forms. The sealing of Orochi prevented all of us from gathering in one place.)**

'_But Orochi is standing right in front of us!'_

**(That is not Orochi, or at least not his complete form. To be complete, I must be absorbed. But I cannot, because the ability to form the Orochi was sealed. Besides, no human can become the Orochi.)**

"All three items are in one place now," Rugal said. He smiled an evil smile. Slowly, Naruto's necklace rose up from his chest. Itachi's ring floated upwards from his pocket and reached the same level as Naruto's Necklace. Hinata's earrings detached them selves and made do like the other three pieces of jewelry. They glowed a bright white for a moment before settling back down where they came from. "The power to form Orochi is free," Rugal said. "Now…" he turned to Naruto, "It's time to get the last being!" Raising his hand, he summoned a black sphere and shot it towards Naruto at a high speed.

Naruto dodged it as best as he could, letting it pass the side of his head. The sphere made a deep impact on the wall behind him. He then turned back to Rugal. Nine tails shot out of his right sleeve while his left hand became engulfed in flames; he was ready to attack. Hinata readied her scythe while Itachi whipped out his katars and Kisame his Samehada. Rugal, still floating in the middle of the room, slowly turned to face Kisame.

"The three clans are already here. There is no need for you," raising his hand, Rugal shot out another black sphere, this time at Kisame. The sharkman, unable to dodge fast enough, was forced to block the sphere with his sword. As the projectile hit, it slowly began to grind into the weapon, slowly putting more stress on the sword and bringing it to breaking point. Panicking, Kisame put chakra into his sword to reinforce it. Rugal focused more chakra into his black sphere. The sword was overwhelmed and snapped in half as the sphere traveled straight through Kisame's chest and continuing through the wall. Rugal then sent several more black spheres towards Kisame's body, ripping his body apart.

Itachi stared in disbelief. His friend was dead. Now he was just a pile of flesh, staining the room with his blood. Slowly, he knelt down and picked up his forehead protector. Putting it in his coat pocket, he turned to Rugal, his eyes revealing the Sharingan at its full power, "I'll make sure you die here." Without a second thought, he charged forward towards the floating Rugal. He went in for several stabs with his katars. Rugal simply used his hands and blocked them. Realizing its futility, Itachi locked eyes with Rugal and used his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Staring into the Sharingan, Rugal smirked and, with a wave of his hand, swatted him away. Itachi flew back to where he started. "Your Sharingan is not strong enough to affect me. You'll have to do better than that."

Slowly, Itachi stood up once more. Readying his katars once more, he made a hand signal. Immediately, the trio began to quickly circle around Rugal, ready to strike at any moment, becoming a blur of black and red. Itachi signaled again. Hinata leapt out and attempted to land a horizontal strike on Rugal's neck. The man simply ducked, letting the scythe mar his hair. Hinata retreated back into the circle.

Itachi then signaled to Naruto. Naruto's tails suddenly came to life as they flew towards Rugal. They began to try and swat at him with vertical and horizontal swings, but Rugal simply dodged the tails. Retreating with a scowl, Naruto returned in circling Rugal. Itachi gave another signal. Naruto retracted his tails.

Immediately, all three of them leapt in towards Rugal. Naruto, with his right hand, sent a streak of blue fire towards Rugal while Hinata attempted to close some of Rugal's chakra holes. Itachi went in for the kill with his katars.

Rugal simply sidestepped the projectile, punched Hinata away, and swiftly kneed Itachi in the gut that he later punched away. Both of them flew to the walls, making heavy impacts and causing them to cough up some blood. They then slid to the ground before slowly getting up. Naruto stared in anger, seeing his teammate and wife getting hurt. Making some Time Bunshins, he had them all charge at Rugal, their hands filled with fire.

"Too easy!" Rugal said. Extending his arms to his side, he released a ring of chakra from his Tenketsu points. The ring was tremendous in power, easily pushing all of the clones away.

'_Damn it! How do I beat this guy? Give me your chakra, Kyuubi!'_ There, Naruto thought of protecting the world from the demon, how he would keep eight virgin girls from being sacrificed to this demon. He thought about protecting his wife from the abomination in front of him.

But Naruto did not feel the surge in power that he normally would receive. _'Kyuubi, what are you doing?'_

**(I'm not giving you my chakra.)**

'_Why not? I need it to beat this guy!'_

**(You can't.)**

'_What? Why not?'_

**(He's too powerful.)**

'_No, there has to be some way to beat him.'_

**(There is.)**

'_But you just said that there wasn't!'_

**(Yes, there was no way for _you_ to beat him. However, there is one way for me.)**

_'And how do you expect to do that? You're stuck inside me.'_

**(Call off of your time bunshins.)** Naruto did so, causing all of them to disappear. **(I am going to show you a set of seals. Be sure to do them.)**

_'What's the name of this jutsu?'_

**(You're only going to use it this one time. I guarantee it.)** Instantly, the seals began to enter his mind. His hands formed seal after seal, some of them being very basic while others he had never seen before. Hinata and Itachi stared at Naruto, whose face betrayed a look of confusion. Finally, Naruto stopped at a seal. He then said the words without thinking.

"Mind Body Switch no Jutsu!" Instantly, Naruto felt a pulling feeling in his navel. The world began to spin and Naruto closed his eyes to keep himself from getting sick. Seconds seemed to grow to minutes when the swirling finally stopped. He opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar place, but on the wrong side of the spectrum.

_**Kyuubi's Cell**_

Naruto was currently behind the sealed cage, the home Kyuubi had for sixteen years. "Shit!"

**(Quiet, kit.)**

"You god damn tricked me!"

**(No, I saved you.)**

"Saved me? What are you talking about?" Kyuubi did not respond. Grumbling, Naruto took a look around. He saw strips of paper, all of them with kanji representing the word shield. He also saw a blue sphere. He walked over to it and examined it. Stretching out his arm, he retracted it when the sphere suddenly took the shape of a man.

"Hello, Naruto. If you are listening to this, that means that I have either died or am going to die." Naruto instantly went straight. How could Kyuubi die?

"I prepared this from the day you have joined the Akatsuki. After meeting Rugal and the rest of the group, I figured that he was up to something dangerous. The rest of the group, if I haven't already told you, is the rest of the Eight Legendary Beings. I suspected that Rugal wanted power, and that he would try to become Orochi, the Eight-headed Snake Demon.

"However, I know that humans cannot become Orochi. If he absorbed all eight souls, the chakra surging through his body would overwhelm his chakra gates and open all of them, causing his body to explode. So, in the case of this happening, I have devised a method to destroy him.

"Rugal is merely human, with only eight gates to keep chakra from spilling out.

"If I am to be the last soul of the Legendary Beings he absorbs, then I would sacrifice my soul to destroy him. However, depending on whether or not the Uchiha Ring, the Hyuuga Earrings, and the Uzumaki Necklace were brought together, this would lead to the forming of Orochi.

"So, I have decided to leave my body to you. Once my soul is absorbed, you will gain control of my body. It is different than yours in many ways. My chakra system will be integrated with yours, giving you a larger chakra reserve. Also, your flames will be black and white, though you will still change forms depending on your mood. Your Gensougan will also reach the highest level. The main difference between yours is that it allows more possibilities and takes up less chakra. You will also become the guardian of the summoning contract for foxes.

"However, the main difference with my body with yours is tha-" That was when Naruto's mind couldn't listen anymore.

'_He's going to sacrifice himself? Why?'_ Naruto pondered on this until the message brought him back to the world.

"Also, you will gain my memories. I'm sorry that I have to leave you, but I had to for your sake and Hinata's." Then the sphere disappeared.

_**Real World**_

"So, you reveal your true self, Kyuubi," Rugal chuckled. Hinata and Itachi looked at Kyuubi, who looked nothing like Naruto, except for his height and slapdash hair. His hair had become orange, though strands of yellow were visible. Naruto's skin tone became more of a bronze color and his whisker marks became more distinct. In the body changing process, Naruto's forehead protector had fallen off revealing slit red eyes before the Gensougan. However, the eye had a black spiral sprouting from the iris instead of the usual bars. Attached on a leather strap wasa summoning scroll.

'_Is that a higher level of the Gensougan?'_ Itachi thought. "This is _not _good…" he trailed off. Had Kyuubi tricked Naruto into releasing him?

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Hinata demanded from Kyuubi.

"He's in a safe place," was the demon's answer.

"Have you come to fight for Naruto?" Rugal taunted.

"No," Kyuubi's voice rumbled, "but I'm here to make sure what happened here, stays here." Rapidly, Kyuubi began to do a set of hand seals. All of them were archaic and Itachi and Hinata had never seen such seals.

"You want to gain the power of Orochi, right?" Kyuubi continued to do seal after seal. "You also know that to do so would require all eight souls of the Legendary Beings. Right now, you lack mine."

"Yes. I knew that I would not be able to defeat all eight of you at once, so I took one soul at a time, sending everyone out on missions except two," Rugal confessed, "I absorbed their souls, and when the rest got back, I took theirs. Now, I only need yours."

"If you want it so much," Kyuubi stopped at the demon seal, "then take it! Soul Sacrifice!" A ghastly white apparition appeared out of Kyuubi's body for a fleeting moment before entering Rugal. Kyuubi's body began to fall, but Naruto's soul quickly took over, gaining full control of the demon's body and saving himself from the fall.

"Kyuubi…" the words of Kyuubi's will rang out in his head. He lost not only a mentor but a friend as well. But now was not the time for mourning.

"Hinata-chan, Itachi-sensei! We need to get out of here now!" Hinata and Itachi turned around, both relieved to find out that the Naruto they knew was back. "His chakra gates are wide open! Come on! This place is going to blow!" Without a second glance Naruto ran out the door. Hinata and Itachi bolted out after him.

As they ran by the bloodstained walls, they looked like dancing flames, making the place seem like hell once more. As the approached the exit, Rugal's insane laughter caught up with them. Running ever faster, they exited the lair and kept running until a safe distance was reached. As they turned back, the maniacal laughter seemed to grow as a resounding explosion came from deep within the tunnel. Smoke quickly plumed out of the exit and vanished into the sky. The cave collapsed, the force making it unstable.

Itachi sat down on the ground, his legs outstretched in front of him. It was over. It was finally over. He could go home, take some time off, and marry Yuki now. A content smile found itself on his face. He quit daydreaming and looked at his two students.

Naruto found himself holding Hinata. He had to tell her that he was now a demon, not just a human holding a demon. Once again, the thoughts of Hinata running from him entered his mind once more. "Hinata-chan, I-" before he could finish, Hinata had quickly placed a kiss on his lips.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto-kun." She let her hand travel down to his, holding it. "Let's go home, Naruto-kun."

"Yes…" a vision of Konoha appeared in Naruto's mind. "Let's."

Without a second glance, the group of three ninjas began the trek back to Konoha.


	23. Not So Subtle Changes

Blargh! I give you chapter 23 of the ongoing fic. It's not over yet, for those who think so. I expect to write a few more chapters. Also, finals will hit me in five or six weeksish, so I may not be able to update this fic as often during that time period. Also, for those who haven't read it yet, the REAL version of chapter 22 is up. Take a read. I've already answered the reviews in my reposting of chapter 22, so no responding for now.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 23: Not So Subtle Changes

Some ninjas are known because they do things. Some ninjas are known because they have a special trait.

Tsunade is just one of those famous kunoichis of the ninja world. She is a well-known medic nin and is also one of the Legendary Sannin. Her appearance is also famous. Despite her real age of sixty-five-ish, she only appears to be about twenty-five years old. Also, she has a purple diamond on her head, which actually marks a jutsu being stored up for next use. Also, she has obscenely large breasts.

However, what really makes her famous is how she acts when she is angry. So far, she has been known to punch people through walls, punch people through a cement wall two feet thick, and was also known to have punched straight through an enemy ninja, whom she was angered by.

Of course, there are some famous urban legends about people who have encountered her wrath and lived. The most famous, non-urban legend one was the story of Ichigo. Here it is, told by Encyclopedia Ninja:

'_Ichigo was a rather normal civilian man of the age of twenty-three. The common stereotype of men being that age, however, meant that he was one of those jackasses who do stupid things with his friends while looking for something that he could make a living of. He was not exempt from it._

'_One day, a friend of his challenged him to call Tsunade a flat-chested whore. Of course, being his age, he agreed. Finding Tsunade, he called her a flat-chestedwhore._

'_The time when Ichigo found her was not the best time. She was on a date with Dan, who seemed a bit surprised, if not disgusted by the fact that he was dating such a person. Had Dan not heard it, she would have simply shrugged it off, but seeing how Ichigo had threatened her relationship with him, she ran off after him._

'_Poor Ichigo ran for his life. He managed to keep Tsunade from catching up to him. Tsunade later commented that, if it were not for the fact that he didn't have a forehead protector, she would have thought that he was a ninja. However, she caught up with him and punched him, sending him flying through the straw roof of a market vender and one of Konoha's outer walls._

'_Ichigo landed close to a lake. Where he landed, there just happened to be a bowl-like rock filled with some water. Also, some of the straw from the straw roof landed in it. The last image he saw before waking up in a hospital was that image._

'_Unfortunately, he had suffered from amnesia. At that point, he only remembered the fact that he saw a rock shaped like a bowl filled with water and some straw. That was when he knew what he would do to make a living._

'_Three days after he left the hospital, Ichiraku Ramen was open for business.'_

As one can see, Tsunade's anger is very famous. She is known for getting angry at the smallest things. So it would only be natural for her to be angry when Jiraiya got back. The old lecher was grinning like a cat and peeping on girls even more often. She also believed that she felt him pinch her butt.

That earned him a trip through a wall. When she demanded to know why he was being so happy and perverted, he only said, "I can't tell you." For several days, Tsunade thought about sending Jiraiya to Ibiki to find out what he was so happy about.

But it was unnecessary, as the reason was slowly approaching Konoha.

* * *

Two chuunin guards stood at the North Gate. It was early morning and a low fog had settled in. It floated just above the ground, giving the earth a beautiful yet eerie feel. It reached only up to their knees. The road from the gate went up a little hill and then down, preventing the guards from seeing behind it. 

The guard on the left gave a yawn. It was very boring during morning shift. Nothing seemed to actually happen during the morning. Travelers usually arrived during the afternoon or evening.

That's when he saw three bobbing travelers hats appear above the hill. They were tipped downwards so that they could not see their faces. The red bells attached to their hats gave off a light ring each time they took a step. As soon as their cloaks were seen, the guards got into ready position. The three travelers wore black clothing with red clouds on them. And that could only mean that they were a part of the Akatsuki.

"Come on, sensei! We can fake the ID!" a male voice whispered in a fairly hushed tone.

"No, you will not fake the ID. I will get you in myself." A deeper voice said that.

"But you don't remember the password!" a female voice said in a hushed voice.

"Hey, I didn't think I would have to remember that one!"

"Well, we could force our way in…" the male said again.

"No, we will not be using force to get into Konoha," The deep voice rumbled.

Slowly the three travelers came to the gate and then stopped. The guards took a good look at the three of them. One of them had short raven hair, the other had long bluish hair, and the last one had a mix of red and yellow hair that was sticking out in all directions. The one with the black hair had a pair of katars tucked into a pocket while the one with blue hair had a large scythe on her back. The third carried no weapon. Snapping to their senses, the guards blocked the entrance.

"Halt. State your name and purpose for coming to Konoha," one of them said.

"We have come here to speak with the Hokage-same," Itachi said, his hat still covering his face. "Please let us enter."

The guards looked at each other and then turned to face the three ninjas again. "No."

"And why not?" Itachi asked.

"Without proper identification, we cannot allow entry," the other guard said. Itachi grumbled.

'_Great… what was the password again?'_ Itachi thought for a moment for the right password for this particular situation. Then he remembered and looked at the guards, revealing his face. "The shark doesn't want to play anymore."

The guards dropped their defensive stance and looked at Itachi in shock. "You mean Kisame's dead?" they both said at the same time.

Itachi sighed. "Yes, unfortunately…" Itachi fished around in one of his pockets. "I have his forehead protector." He took it out and showed it to the guards. When they were done examining it, he put it back into his pocket.

"That's his alright. Sorry for the hold-up." They signaled for the gates to be opened. The group of three began to walk in when the two guards stopped Naruto and Hinata. "Halt. State your name and purpose for coming to Konoha." Itachi turned around to see what was going on.

Hinata and Naruto looked up at the guards. Naruto responded, "We're with Itachi." When the guards saw that they had slashed Konoha forehead protectors, they once again got into a ready position.

"We're sorry, but we cannot let you in without proper identification. Please show us your ID." The married couple looked towards Itachi, waiting for him to bail them out. The Uchiha was thinking.

'_Damn it, what was the password…'_ Originally, Itachi and Kisame had been given a set of passwords to gain entry into Konoha. Each password would refer to a different kind of situation. Itachi had destroyed the paper to keep the secrets from getting out. But he never bothered to remember the password for this kind of situation, seeing as how he would never be in one like this.

Well, look where he is now. All he knew was that was something about going out to lunch.

"Itachi-sensei, are you sure you don't want us to use force?" Naruto said to Itachi.

Immediately, the two guards took up a defensive stance. One of them bit his thumb. "This is being addressed as a threat to Konoha!" The one who bit his thumb pulled up his sleeve and brought his thumb across his arm.

"We've just sent a signal to the ANBU Squad AND the Hokage. They will arrive shortly. Give in, you two, or else!"

Itachi looked at Naruto. "Great, now look what you did!"

"It's not like we can't handle them," Hinata said.

"Hey! We are not fighting, okay?"

"Then remember the damn password!" Naruto yelled out.

That's when the ANBU Squad arrived. The team of four appeared, circling Naruto and Hinata. "What's the situation here?" the captain said. He wore an owl mask.

"These two missing nins, even though they came with Itachi, do not have any ID and we did not let them in. Then they asked Itachi whether to use force or not. That's when we sent the signal," the left guard said.

"I guess that's enough reason to summon us here," the one with the frog mask said.

Naruto looked towards Itachi once again. "Can we attack now? They threw the first stone…"

"No," was Itachi's firm reply. "Just defend yourselves and be quite for now."

"Describe defend." Naruto was itching for a fight.

"As in not hurting them," Itachi said.

"Physically or mentally?"

"God damn it! You know what I mean!" Itachi's temper flared up. "If you keep this up, I'm doubling your weights again!" Naruto kept quite after that as Itachi entered his little world of trying to remember the password.

Without warning, the three of the four ANBU members attacked Hinata. She defended herself by using the butt of her scythe to push them away as well as dodging some strikes. As the ANBU members attacked, they were mystified as to seeing how Hinata had managed to avoid the blows. She looked more like she was dancing and knew where everything was coming from. The fourth one seemed to be stuck in a trance.

"H-Hinata-sama?" the fighting immediately stopped and the three ANBU members backed away. "Hinata-sama, is that you?" the fourth ANBU member asked. Slowly, Hinata leaned forward a little and undid the knot at the back of her head. She lowered her forehead protector and slowly looked up.

"Yes, it's me," Hinata answered said to the ANBU squad. Her Byakuugan was activated and she looked to the ANBU member who had simply stood to the side during the short fight. He was a Hyuuga Branch member, which was how he knew that it was Hinata. Of course, the Hinata he remembered was nothing like the one he saw now. What he remembered was that she was a shy, small, rather weak and dead girl.

"But if you're still alive, then-" the ANBU captain was cut off.

"Yeah, it's me alright," Naruto nonchalantly said. He also took off his forehead protector, revealing his Gensougan to the team. "And I'm not going to tolerate any crap from you guys."

That's when Itachi felt that remembering the password was a lost cause. "Well, hopefully that's enough ID for you guys. Now if you'll excuse us," he signaled for Hinata and Naruto to follow him, "we need to go see the Hokage." With their backs turned, they entered Konoha.

But Hinata looked over her shoulder and said to the Hyuuga ANBU member, "Tell my dad that his daughter's home."

The first thing that greeted them was stares. The villagers looked at Hinata and Naruto in fear, their eyes being a sight to behold. They realized that Hinata held the Byakuugan while Naruto's eyes were simply entrancing. As soon as they realized that the person whom they were watching was watching back, they quickly became interested in the ground. Some parents ushered their children back into their houses while others closed their doors and windows. Some even closed their shops and left the vicinity. Ignoring the people, the trio continued their walk to the office.

When they arrived at the place, the guards were on full alert. They looked at the three and were immediately suspicious. What would Itachi be doing back so soon? Who were his companions, and where was Kisame? Each guard took a look at the persons' eyes. Itachi's eyes seemed to calm people down, Hinata's eyes tended to cause people confusion, and Naruto's cast fear into their hearts.

Finally, the group had reached Tsunade's room. The guards, seeing Itachi, parted, though they still kept an eye on Hinata and Naruto. As they entered, they saw Tsunade sleeping on her desk, which was why she didn't arrive at the North Gate when she was signaled to do so.

"So…" Itachi trailed off, "… Who's going to wake her up?"

Itachi looked at Hinata.

Hinata looked at Naruto.

"Do I have to?" Naruto asked Itachi.

"Perhaps you would like to carry some more weights?" Itachi responded. Naruto simply scowled.

"You guys may want to cover your ears." All three of them did so as Naruto used his Gensougan to summon a gigantic gong. A mallet raised and smashed itself strongly against it. The sound reverberated off of the walls and into Tsunade's ears, causing the woman to wake up instantly. Tsunade snapped up into a sitting position and looked around for anything alarming. By then, though, the gong had already disappeared.

Her face seemed to have aged a little. Even though she still looked young, she no longer looked like she was in her mid twenties, but somewhere in her thirties. Her eyes were tired and bags were forming beneath them. "What's going on?" Tsunade asked. Then she saw the three people in her room. "What are you three doing here?"

"Hokage-sama, it's me," Itachi said.

"Itachi? Why are you back so soon?"

"The Akatsuki is no more," Hinata answered, "and we've decided to come back home." Tsunade looked at her.

"There was never a Hyuuga Missing nin, was there?" Tsunade asked Itachi.

"Nope. Never was, and never will be," Naruto answered her, "Baa-chan."

"Hey, don't you _dare _call me that, young man!" Tsunade said to him. "Only one person called me that!"

"Yeah, whatever you say… baa-chan," Naruto taunted.

Tsunade leapt from behind her desk and landed in front of Naruto. "The only person who ever had the balls to call me baa-chan was Naruto." She would only let one him call her baa-chan. Naruto happened to have whiskers on his face. And this person didn't look like Naruto.

Except for the whiskers. As soon as Tsunade saw them, she was almost entranced by them. Her hand traced one of them for a while before pulling it back. "Oh my God," was Tsunade's response. "Naruto, is that you?" Her eyes seemed to fill with hope.

Slowly, Naruto pulled out the necklace that Tsunade gave him three years ago. "I'm back, baa-chan."

Slowly, tears began to stream down Tsunade's face. A tired smile grew across her face as she gently took Naruto into a protective hug. She had lost him once. This time, she wouldn't lose him again. "How are you still alive? Everyone thinks your dead! And what happened to you?"

"I faked my death. At that time, I didn't really want to come back here. As for why I look like this, I have gained the body of the Kyuubi along with some other perks."

"And if you're still alive," Tsunade looked at Hinata, "then that would make her Hyuuga Hinata, right?"

"Not really," Hinata said. She and Naruto raised their left hands to her to show the wedding rings. "I am Uzumaki Hinata."

"You're married?" Tsunade asked.

"Yeah," Naruto answered, "but we're not here just to catch up; that can wait for another day. We need to learn as much as we can about Orochi."

"Well," Tsunade began, "so far, Orochimaru hasn't done much, though we can assume that he'll want to get Sasuke back."

"No, Hokage-sama, not Orochimaru, but Orochi, the Eight-headed Snake Demon," Hinata said.

Tsunade's face went into thought. Taking a seat, Tsunade told them what she knew, "According to myth, the demon would go to a different village every two years and ask for a sacrifice of eight virgins. Then one time, the Hyuuga, Uchiha, and a third clan sealed Orochi away, using a pair of earrings, a ring, and a necklace. They were called the Hyuuga Earrings, the Uchiha ring, and the something Necklace."

"Allow me to tell you what it really is. The Orochi is made up of the Eight Legendary Beings: Ryu, Hitotsume-Kozou, Kappa, Rokurokubi, Yasha, Yuki-Onna, Tengu, and Kyuubi. What happened was that they would have a battle royal and whenever one of them killed another, they would gain the soul and become stronger. Once only one was left, the souls would combine to make Orochi," Naruto said.

"When Orochi was sealed away by the three clans, the demon wasn't sealed away, but the power to make it was. It was sealed away by with the power of three artifacts: the Hyuuga Earrings, the Uchiha Ring, and the Uzumaki Necklace."

Naruto removed his necklace, Hinata her earrings, and Itachi took off his ring. They then laid it down on Tsunade's desk. "It's not a myth, Hokage-sama," Hinata said. "The leader tried to become Orochi." A dazed look sat on Tsunade's face.

"Did you defeat him?"

"Well, the leader more or less destroyed himself. You see, when he absorbed the last soul, which was Kyuubi, the chakra overwhelmed his chakra gateways, thus leading to his ultimate demise," Hinata answered.

"How did you gain Kyuubi's body?"

"The demon had suspected that this would happen ever since we joined the Akatsuki, and had written a will, saying that I would gain his body and memories. Anyway, the necklace, earrings, and ring reacted, glowing a bright light before settling back down. We fear that the Orochi may be back soon."

Tsunade took the information and thought for a moment before giving them her answer, "Very well," her face seemed a bit grim, " we will prepare for it in case it does arrive. You two are to meet me tomorrow to discuss your reintegration into Konoha. You are dismissed." Without another word, the group of three left the Hokage's office.

"So where do we go next?" Naruto asked. He looked towards Hinata. He could tell that she was planning something.

"I say we pay a visit to my old man," was Hinata's reply. Naruto still remembered how her father said that he only had one daughter.

"Perhaps we should," Itachi commented. The trio walked down the busy midday streets, passing the reopened shops, which suddenly hung their closed signs.

Apparently, they were still afraid of them. Perhaps it was because they didn't know that it was Naruto and Hinata who were with Itachi. As they neared the Hyuuga complex, they wondered what they were actually going to do there. Were they going to show how strong they've gotten? Perhaps bully a few members of the Main Family? Eventually, they just decided that they would waltz in and then see what happened.

But they were about to be a member short.

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered Itachi's eyes, "Guess who…" a female voice called.

Itachi smiled. "Hey Yuki-chan."

Yuki's arms dropped as she circled around Itachi and hugged him. "You're back early."

"Well, we finished our mission and-," That was when Yuki leaned in and kissed him, ending his statement early. The pair continued to kiss each other while Hinata and Naruto politely looked away. When they finally pulled away, Yuki pulled out a book. Itachi immediately recognized it.

It was 10 Ways to Sexually Enhance Your Body, the Ninja Way. Apparently, he had left it in Konoha at her house. "You want to do this again? We only got up to number three before you passed out," Yuki requested. To Hinata, however, it didn't really sound like a request.

"Well… I'm kind of busy, Yuki-chan," Itachi said.

"Come on… We'll only do one of them…"

"But I can't just let my students go into the Hyuuga complex by themselves. They're going to need me."

"Please, Itachi-kun…?" By then, Yuki had already crawled behind him and put her head on his left shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. Perhaps we ca-"

That was when Yuki licked the spot right behind his left ear.

Immediately, Itachi stood at attention. His eyes were wide open, almost shocked into the state. He gulped.

"Hinata, Naruto," his two students looked at him, "you two will meet me here in one hour. Do not do anything stupid, Naruto." With that, Itachi and Yuki left the scene with a poof of smoke.

Hinata made a mental note to lick Naruto behind the ear later that day.

Naruto simply let his arms drop to the side. "So now what do we do? It's about three o'clock and there's not much we can do now."

"We can still go inside the Hyuuga Complex," Hinata answered.

"What? But Itachi just said that I'm not supposed to do anything stupid!"

"You're not doing anything stupid, I am."

"Hinata, you know what Itachi meant. And I don't want to get my weights doubled again…"

"Come on… I can't take them alone…" Hinata pleaded.

"…"

"Please, Naruto-kun…"

"Alright, but remember, this was your idea." With that, the pair walked towards the gates of the Hyuuga complex.

The doors were made of stainless steel, a gleam of light reflecting off of it. There were heavy knobs to pull the door open. Normally, the doors were open. Anyone could enter, but unless they were Hyuugas or on delivering a message, they were more likely than not defeated on site.

Today, however, they were closed. Hinata remembered that this normally meant that something was going on inside the complex. It was probably some sort of clan meeting or the council making a decision.

Hinata had a bad feeling that something was going on, and that something was not a good thing.

Standing in front of the gates, the pair looked at each other, nodded, and then turned back to the steel gates. Gathering some chakra into their legs, they fiercely kicked the door open.

It was payback time.


	24. The Play Unfolds

Sorry about the long update. I tried to get it done by Thursday, but I guess I couldn't. Responses now:

nonengel: The Orochi legends will play an important part towards the end.

PersonaJXT: You mentioned invulnerable twice.

madnarutofan: I can only give you this question: if you were presented with a diamond and a stone, and you could only take one, which one would you pick?

fatalX: Kyuubi sacrificed him soul to defeat Rugal. Rugal was killed because his body could not handle the chakra. Because the three artifacts were gathered in one place with many of the souls residing there, the ability to form the Orochi is now possible.

A/N: I noticed that I made Itachi very much like Zaphod Beeblebrox. And I like it. Also, by popular demand, I have written a short lemon featuring Itachi and Yuki so that you can get an idea of whats in that book. Kudos (and maybe a reward)to whoever can find out who I am referring to in the beginning of the chapter.

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

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Chapter 24: The Play Unfolds

In all of history, there have been many authors. Some, of course, are more popular than others. There have been authors who had written plays, stories and even simple comedy acts.

However, one author stands out among the rest. The author had done everything and some other things never heard of until he came around. Even the greatest resource for ninjas, Encyclopedia Ninja, agrees that this author is the greatest of them all.

His name isSpearu. He has written many plays that are still being acted out today, some of them even world famous. No one really knows when he was born because this information was lost in the midst of time. Some claim that he was born during the time of the First Hokage, while others claim it was during the Second Hokage's reign. But that's not what's important. What does matter is that this person is the greatest author to ever grace the earth.

Each of Spearu's plays seems to hit a certain chord deep within each person who hears it. It's almost as if it was made to make the audience think over the topic. All of his plays circle around three main genres: comedy, tragedy, and historical.

Spearu's most famous play, however, is titled _'Sato and Sayuri'_. It is a tale of both joy and sorrow between two ninja clans. The very condensed background story, provided by Encyclopedia Ninja, is as follows:

"_Sato and Sayuri are both the heirs from two rival clans: the Enoki and Ryoushin. However during a party the Enoki clan hosted, Sato and some of his friends sneaked in, pretending to be a part of the Enoki clan._

"_However, once Sato and Sayuri lock eyes, they immediately fall in love with each other and kiss. It was a simple and innocent one, but it was still a kiss. Slowly, the two teens plan to get married and th-_

To explain the entire play would be tedious, so skipping several acts will be necessary.

"_And so, both Sato and Sayuri die in each other's arms at the hands of their own clan members. Though the clan felt anger at the time, they realized later that the two lovers only wanted to make a point. And so, both clans decide to clear up the feud between them and they lived in relative peace, remembering the lives of Sato and Sayuri, who are immortalized by a statue."_

The play has been rewritten countless times, each time with a different setting, a different interpretation. But the most important fact is that the script was made into a book for all to read. So many have read the book, it is the number one most read book, followed shortly by Icha Icha Paradise and Encyclopedia Ninja.

In fact, the book is so famous, that even Hyuuga Neji had read it. He had read many things that Hyuugas should not read, seen many things that Hyuugas should not see, and done many things that Hyuugas should not do, mostly with Tenten.

And for that, he was paying his dues on the day of his execution. He had done many things that were considered wrong by the Hyuugas. Not only had he had premarital sex, but he had also seen many things that he should never have seen.

Neji was kneeling on a mat in front of Hiashi. All of the Hyuuga Main family members were there. Hanabi was sitting next to her father in a smaller, lower seat. Seated in a straight line on both sides were the rest of the Hyuuga Main members. Looking out of his peripheral vision to his right, he saw Tenten, kneeling next to him.

Normally in this certain kind of clan execution, especially of branch members, the lover of the doomed was often not present during the execution. More often than not, the Hyuuga would refuse to tell them with whom he had slept with. Tenten, however, had come at her own free will as soon as she heard that Neji was caught and would be executed.

Neji and Tenten's relationship had slowly bloomed as each fell deeper and deeper in love with each other. It was about a year later when Neji proposed to Tenten, who obviously accepted with much joy. In fact, she was so joyous that she quickly told her parents that she would marry Hyuuga Neji.

Her family was happy for her. However, it was necessary for them to explain about the secret law of the Hyuugas. It was there when Neji finally learned why he was unable to attend Human Growth and Development in the Academy. Neji, however, was still determined to marry Tenten and asked Tenten's parents if they could fool Hiashi. Once again, her parents grimly pointed out the fact that Hyuuga males would only marry virgins; for females, it would be harder to tell if the candidate for fiancé was a virgin or not. Either way, Hiashi could check using his Byakuugan to see whether Tenten was a virgin or not.

Despite the fact they could never marry, Neji and Tenten asked if there was another way to get married. They did offer one answer, but it was a dangerous route to take.

Eloping would be the only way for the pair to get married. And so the young couple did. It would be a secret that only they and the parents would know about. Slowly, however, it became a topic of gossip and rumors. Older people who knew of the Hyuuga's traditions talked with it amongst themselves while the younger generation simply passed the news between each other. However, the information was kept away from the ears of the Hyuuga Clan.

They lived seemingly separate lives. They still knew each other and often worked together. But during the day, they seemed only to be friends. However, when night came, feelings that were dammed up during the day burst through and turned into hot passion for the other, often in a quiet and secluded part of town, forest, or a locked room.

They lived like that for one year. However, they were caught in the act one night by several of the older married Hyuuga ninjas. Apparently, they had known of the rumors going around but they needed solid evidence to prove it. And they had it enough to prove it.

Neji and Tenten were caught three days ago. Sitting kneeling down on the mats in front of Hiashi and Hanabi, they knew that all eyes were watching them. "Hyuuga Neji," Hiashi's voice boomed, "you have been caught in the act of having sex, along with the secret knowledge about your body which no Hyuuga should know until they are married. You have also married without the knowledge or permission of the Hyuuga Clan. It is also assumed that you have also read material that is not allowed by the Hyuuga censorship. Do you object to any of these accusations?"

"No," Neji replied, "I do not object to any of these accusations." The Hyuugas were always very uptight about tradition. Even when there was an execution, it had to be done formally and traditionally.

Hiashi turned to Tenten, "You have been caught having sex with Hyuuga Neji. You are also held responsible of swaying him from the right path. Do you object to any of these accusations?"

"No," Tenten answered, "I do not object to any of these accusations."

"Very well," Hiashi started, "you will now be executed. Hyuuga Neji shall die from the activation of the Caged Seal while Tenten will be killed by a blow to the head." Hiashi stood up and walked over to the two teenagers seated on the floor. "Any last words?"

Silence.

"Very well then." Hiashi poised his hands to administer the execution. His right hand forming a seal while his left hand positioned itself to deal a blow to Tenten's head. The young pair looked at each other and smiled a barely recognizable smile to each other. Neji, using his right hand, lightly grasped Tenten's left hand. And with that, they prepared themselves for death.

At that moment, the doors flew open. Two Hyuuga guards were hurled through the opening. With quick speed, two rope-like objects, which could only be described as fluffy things, wrapped around Neji and Tenten before retreating back outside. The Hyuuga members in the room quickly rushed outside to confront the intruder.

"Intruders! What do you think you are doing here?" Hiashi yelled at Hinata and Naruto, who had already placed Neji and Tenten in a rather safe place. They had carefully tilted their hats as to hide their identities. Hinata, scythe in her hands, put the base of it on the blunt end of it on the ground.

"I'm here to claim what rightfully belongs to me," Hinata answered.

"You have nothing here which belongs to you. Give in quietly, or we will be forced to take you out of the estate in a body bag," Hiashi threatened. When the pair made no sign of admitting defeat, he ordered the clan to attack.

Closing her eyes, Hinata slammed the butt of her scythe into the ground, causing the weapon to stand up on its own. She immediately activated her Byakuugan and began to attack the clan members. However, to avoid getting into too much trouble, she avoided killing them. Naruto, on the other hand, unfurled nine tails from each arm. They flayed in the air, beating away the oncoming Hyuugas.

Seeing as how his kinsmen's attack was useless, he ordered them to stop their attack. Those who could get away did and returned to Hiashi's side while those who could not were knocked unconscious. Hiashi then asked, "Who are you, that you are able to best my kinsmen?"

"Don't recognize me, do you?" Hinata giggled. "Perhaps I should remind you." Hinata then did a quick Henge. As the smoke cleared, Hiashi gasped as a thirteen year-old Hinata stood in front of him in her old clothing, exactly how he remembered. She twiddled her fingers. "H-Hello, Otou-s-san." Even her stutter was the same. Hinata changed back to her real self.

"H-Hinata-sama?" Neji incredulously whispered

The clan was in shock. From what they knew, Hinata had been killed three years ago and her eyes captured. But now, she was standing in front of them. She was no longer thirteen and weak, but sixteen and strong. "N-No, I don't know who you are, I do not have another daughter, and I do not want you on my property!" Rushing forward with his Byakuugan activated, he immediately tried to strike at Hinata. Picking up her scythe in her right hand, she entered a battle stance.

As soon as Hiashi was within striking range, he went for the kill. However, Hinata swiftly dodged and pushed the attacks away with her free left hand. Finding an opening, she slammed the butt of her scythe into Hiashi's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending him back several meters.

"Are you getting old, Otou-san?" Hinata mocked. "You've always wanted me to be stronger." Suddenly, Hinata vanished before his eyes. There were no blurs. She simply faded away. His Byakuugan could not see Hinata anywhere.

"Where did she go?" Hiashi yelled out.

"You got what you wanted." A scream suddenly came out from behind him.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi turned around to see his youngest daughter get sent tumbling backwards. Landing flat on her back, Hanabi tried to stand back up, but failed. Some blood trickled down from her mouth. The place where Hanabi had been struck wasn't going to kill, but it had hurt, a lot. The little girl gave up on trying to stand and propped herself on her elbows. However, she was quickly picked up from the back. She felt two surges of chakra hit her arms, making them and her hands useless.

"We're going to make a deal," Hinata said, her voice laced with venom. Her scythe was on her back. Her left hand held Hanabi. "You are to make me the heir of the Hyuuga Clan. Otherwise," she raised her free hand and put them dangerously close to a killing point, "Hanabi dies."

Hiashi made no move, but his eyes held panic. Should he make Hinata the heir, or risk losing the only heir to the clan?

"I will count to three," Hinata said. "One!" Hinata sealed a non-fatal chakra hole. "Two!" this time, Hinata's strike was closer to a fatal point. Hinata dragged her fingers across the back of her little sister's shirt and placed it right behind her heart. Hanabi closed her eyes, waiting for the blow to come. "Three!" Hinata pulled her arm back.

"Alright, alright! I will make you the heiress once more," Hiashi said, giving in. An angry scowl was visible on his face. Not only did someone much younger than him beat him, but the same person also put him into a dangerous position.

"However," Hiashi looked at Hinata, "because I am both sixteen and married, that means that I am now the head of the clan." Hiashi stared in disbelief.

"Where is your proof?" he yelled.

"Right here." Suddenly, a long orange tail, which was holding a note, appeared in front of Hiashi. Shocked a bit, he read the note with disbelief.

"I, Yoshikawa Senko, the priest of the Red Chapel, along with the power vested in me by whoever the hell is out there legally recognize the marriage of Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata. If you have a problem with this, then it's not my problem."

Before Hiashi could snap out of his shock, Naruto retracted his tail and clutched the note in his hand before putting it away in his coat.

"Now, my first decree as the Head of the Clan is to eliminate the separation of houses, effective immediately. The use of the Caged Seal is forbidden. Those who do sport the seal will have it removed. And this decree cannot be revoked." Hinata turned to her father, "What was Neji going to be executed for?"

"For knowing information that he should not have known yet," Hiashi spat.

"Which is?"

"Understanding how sex works."

"Hmm…" Hinata thought for a moment, "for my second decree, all Hyuuga members are now allowed to attend Human Growth and Development in the Ninja Academy without fear of reprimand, effective as of now. This decree is also irrevocable."

_**Elsewhere**_

Before Itachi could deactivate his Sharingan and find out where Yuki and he had teleported too, his face was already being smothered in kisses. Her legs had already entwined themselves with his and were suggestively rubbing against his thigh and crotch area. She had also wrapped her arms around him and was already pushing, in an almost animalistic manner, her breasts against him, making Itachi feel them through his chest area. Before he could even kiss Yuki, his member was hard.

Eventually, he was able to determine that they were in Yuki's house. With some careful stepping, he was able to lead the both of them into her bedroom and close the door. As soon as it clicked shut, Itachi began to return Yuki's kisses with some of his own, traveling down her neck and then back up again. Itachi's hands traveled up and down her back, giving her some slight shudders.

Slowly, Itachi removed his Akatsuki coat and gently set it on the floor. Yuki let her hands roam across his firm chest. She gave off a noise that sounded much like a whimper, aggravated by the thin piece of cloth that stood between her and the feeling of his hot skin. Her fingernails raked against it, showing her dislike of it. Itachi quickly removed the shirt and shuddered at the feel of Yuki's fingers on his chest.

Gently, very gently, Itachi took his hands and placed them at the bottom of her pink shirt before gently pulling it up. As soon as it was off, he dropped it on top of his coat. Wrapping his arms around her once more, he kissed her lips and slipped his tongue inside, letting it dance inside of Yuki's mouth. He traced his right hand up and took a hold of her breast, gently squeezing it, causing Yuki to quietly moan into his mouth. A faint blush was visible on her cheeks.

Itachi slowly withdrew his hand from her breast, causing her to whimper. Slowly, Itachi undid Yuki's jeans and let them slide to the ground, unveiling the lacy black panties beneath them. While Itachi was doing this, Yuki had undone Itachi's fly and put a hand into it. Finding the hole in his boxers, she slipped her hand in and gently grasped Itachi's erect member. It was his turn to blush, though it was only faint.

Reaching around her back, Itachi gently unhooked her bra and tossed it to the side. He began to kiss her lips and gently squeeze her breast once more. Yuki retaliated by hastily undoing his pants and pulling them down. Itachi then used his left hand to slowly remove Yuki's black panties. Yuki responded by pulling down Itachi's boxers. The pair kicked away the clothes at their feet.

Suddenly, like a tiger pouncing its prey, Yuki leapt up and wrapped her legs around Itachi's waist. The sudden shift in weight caused the pair to fall upon Yuki's bed. Taking advantage of her position, she ground her opening against Itachi's hardened member. Both of them moaned almost loudly before catching themselves.

"So what's actually in chapter four of that book?" Itachi asked.

"Well," Yuki said, reaching over to the nightstand beside her bed. "It says here that it's very much like chapter three. However, instead of expelling chakra, we simply gather chakra there and keep it there."

"Heightening our sense of touch?"

"Exactly." The pair gathered some chakra and Yuki eased herself onto Itachi's member.

The effects were instantaneous. As soon as it entered her, she bent over and moaned loudly, a blush reaching her cheeks. Itachi didn't go away unaffected. His breathing was ragged and he himself was blushing as well. They continued, though with many difficulties: it was very difficult for the both of them to continue circulating chakra when they were feeling the immense pleasure. Every single movement was magnified by the chakra.

Finally, they decided to stop. "So how are we going to do this?" Itachi asked.

"We could start with very little chakra and then build it up from there," Yuki suggested. Almost immediately, Itachi flipped around so that she was now pinned beneath him. Itachi leaned in and gently kissed her neck.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Itachi sexily whispered.

"Alright then," Yuki gathered a small amount of chakra, "let's try this." Itachi gathered some chakra and then pushed into Yuki.

The effects were not as amplified as before, but the feeling was still there. They continued in a slow rhythm, managing to concentrate on gathering chakra. Of the two of them, Yuki seemed to be most affected. Her blush was uncontrollable and her voice reduced to whimpers. Her eyes were glazed, almost lost in the storm of pleasure that was overtaking her body. Itachi's eyes were closed as he focused on concentrating the chakra. For a moment, he glanced up at Yuki's brown eyes as she stared into his black ones. They met a mutual agreement.

Slowly, the pair began to gather a little more chakra, raising the sensitivity. Yuki's whimpers grew into what sounded like a quiet yell. Itachi began to breathe heavily, his hot breath making her skin tingle. Itachi leaned closer to her and gently began to nibble her lips. As soon as she opened her mouth to let out a moan, Itachi's tongue quickly slipped in.

The pair was like animals in their lust and love for each other.

Itachi continued to thrust into Yuki. He knew that she was close to her climax and he began to enter her faster and faster until it became unbearable for the both of them. With a short cry, Yuki climaxed, causing Itachi to climax as well. When the affair was done, Itachi pulled himself out and gently tucked Yuki in before joining her.

After pulling the covers over him, he gently wrapped has hands around her waist from the back. For a moment, there was a silence between them.

"You won't be leaving again, will you?" Yuki asked.

"What do you mean?" Itachi said, surprised.

"You're always gone for so long. And when you do come here, you're only here for so long."

"I won't be going anywhere for a while, Yuki-chan," Itachi answered. "I just finished my mission."

"Really?"

"Yes. The Akatsuki is no more."

"Does that mean that we'll-,"

"Yes, Yuki-chan, we're going to get married as soon as possible."

A smile grew on her face. They would be getting married soon. Perhaps they could begin making preparations. Then another question popped up in her mind.

"Why were you outside the Hyuuga complex today?"

"Well, one of my student-," Itachi's eyes opened in shock. "Crap! My students!" with that, he quickly leapt out of Yuki's bed and began to hastily dress himself. "I'll be right back, I promise!" When he was fully dressed, he blurted out, "I love you!" before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

_**Hyuuga Complex**_

Hyuuga Neji and Tenten sat quietly in a peach tree, watching the play unfold. At first, the couple was surprised when an orange tail gripped the both of them about the waist and was suddenly carried up to the branch. They watched as the pair of supposed missing nins took on the entire main branch. Then they watched in shock as Hinata introduced herself and then defeat both her father and sister.

That's when Itachi appeared. Neji almost fell off the branch.

"What did I miss?" Itachi asked.

"Well…" Tenten trailed off, "Hinata and her uh… husband saved us, and then they entered a fight with the Hyuuga main members. After that, Hinata defeated both her father and sister and then, by the laws involving succession, she became the head of the clan…"

"Hmm, I guess they didn't need my help after all." There was a short pause. "Got anything to eat?"

Neji was surprised for the third time that day. "What kind of question is that?"

"A rather important one," Itachi said, eying a ripe peach on one of the branches. "Plus," Itachi grabbed the peach, "I'm hungry."

"How come?" Tenten asked.

"If I told you why I'm so hungry, I may not be around to eat this peach," with that said, Itachi bit into the fruit.

Needless to say, the young couple looked at the hurly-burly in the Hyuuga Complex while Itachi ate his fill of peaches. They listened to Hinata's decree as head of the clan, and Neji, without showing it, rejoiced. Finally, he would be free of the curse put upon him, and he could now marry Tenten without fear of reprimand.

"Well," Itachi drew attention to himself again, "I'm out of here. I promised Yuki I'd be back as soon as possible," with that, Itachi poofed away, but not before he grabbed two more ripe peaches.

"Perhaps we should go down and greet our saviors?" Tenten asked.

Neji didn't respond, but simply jumped down from the tree and walked to where Hinata and her husband stood.

"I hope you've been treating my cousin nicely," Neji said to Naruto. The said teenager turned and smiled.

"Of course I have, Neji. I wouldn't think otherwise," Naruto answered.

"May I know your name?"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," with those words, Neji's eyes seemed to have widened in realization. Things were starting to make sense to Neji. If his cousin had survived, it would have made as much sense that Naruto would have survived as well. Neji smiled.

"It's nice to know that you're not dead," Neji turned away. "Perhaps we could have a match? I want to see how good you've gotten."

"Alright, when?"

"Now." With no further warning, Neji charged at Naruto, his Byakuugan already active. Having sparred with Hinata, he knew much about the weaknesses of the Byakuugan. Though it did have a blind spot, all well-trained Hyuugas would practice learning to deal with the blind spot.

But Hyuugas have another blind spot as well, not that they can't see it, but they tend not to see underneath it.

With nine tails released from his left hand, he had eight of them head for Neji while one burrowed underground. With his eight tails continually tracking down Neji, he could not get close enough to Naruto to attack him. Whenever Neji did get into attack range, Naruto simply avoided it and would retaliate with kicks and punches.

Suddenly, Neji felt a surge of chakra underneath him. The tail that went underground had burrowed and greatly weakened the earth. Soon, Neji felt the ground beneath him falling apart. As he leapt up the eight other tails quickly snared him. They had been waiting for the right moment to strike. His arms were pulled away from each other to prevent him from doing any hand seals.

"That's the end, Neji. I can send flames through my tails and burn you to a crisp. I suggest you give up," Naruto said. Suddenly, a kunai flew towards Naruto from his left. Quickly using his Gensougan, he summoned a wall to keep the kunai from reaching him. Naruto looked over to his assailant and saw four ANBU members who were ready to attack.

"We detected a large surge in chakra here. What's going on?" a familiar voice said. With a smirk, Naruto retracted his tails from Neji and gently set him on his feet.

"It's just a friendly match, Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi was shocked to hear the person say his name.

"Who are you?" Kakashi demanded.

"Don't remember, do you? Take a look at my eyes," Naruto turned to face Kakashi. The man gasped.

"Those eyes…"

"Oh yes, Kakashi-sensei, I'm back," Naruto answered.


	25. Darker Than Their Darkest Days

Ugh...

It has been two almost two whole months since I've updated. I'm very sorry, and I know that no amount of apologizing will quell your anger. However, we must move on to the good parts. Response to reviews:

Dual Rasengan: Don't worry; in my other fic, "The Uchiha Crest," Naruto will use a katana. A special one, in fact.

nonengel: Yeah, I kind of got lost on that part of the story. But hopefully, this chapter will be better.

Amaterasu777: Yes, I hope to include in the coming chapter(s) more use of the two Fox Styles.

Joyceeee: Naruto can use his Gensougan whenever he wants. However, he can only use his Gensougan to affect another person by staring them in the eye.

A/N: I only intend to have one more chapter after this. Anything after that will probably be a prologue, which there might be one. The end is near!

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 25: Darker Than Their Darkest Days

Each hidden village has had dark days. Whether it was famine, siege, or the simple site of seeing one's motherland utterly demolished, those days are kept in memory.

In history, there have been two famous sieges. One is known as "The Great Siege of the Lightning" and while the other is simply called "The Kyuubi." It is difficult to decide which siege was the greater of the two.

If the word siege is looked up in Encyclopedia Ninja, one would not only find the definition, but also two written excerpts, each excerpt written by a ninja who survived either one or the other. These first-hand experiences were very hard to come by, as there were very few survivors of each one.

Here begins the excerpt about "The Great Siege of the Lightning."

_"There weren't many people around after the siege. Other than a few ninjas, some civilians, and the Raikage, there was no one left. Most of the shinobis died defending the village while the civilians and genin had all gone to take refuge in the higher mountains._

_"The fighting was horrible. The village was built on a peak that, for some reason, was abnormally flat and constantly had thunderclouds above it. That meant that the Grass Nins swarmed the entire village from all sides. It was not easy. The village was a cornered animal, ready to do anything to protect itself. At first, the plan was simple: run around, kill enemies, retreat for a moment and rest, and then repeat. It was okay at first. You sleep for about four or five hours, eat some food, and then go back to fighting. Except for the Raikage. From what I've heard, he barely slept each day and collapsed several times in battle from exhaustion, taking a day to recover, and then heading back to fight._

_"The battle raged on for ten days. That was when we were starting to run low on supplies. We rationed out what we had, each of us getting no more than ten kunais, four shuriken, three senbon for those who used them, and two food pills. That was when the fighting got desperate. Whenever we fought and defeated a squad, we would make sure that no enemies were around before we would steal their supplies. If a teammate fell in battle, we would swarm around him, quickly taking their supplies. That was reality. It's either you or them._

_"I remember one of my friends fighting along side me. We tore through the enemies like paper. However, he was not as strong as I was, though it was not through lack of trying. He was born with a weak heart, not meant to be a ninja. But he had sworn on his life that he would prove those measly doctors wrong, and that he would become one of the greatest shinobis of the Lightning. As we fought on, I noticed that he was slowly lagging behind. I offered to slow down and let him rest, but he refused, saying that we must go on to protect our homeland. And so we did. At the end of the day, when we should have eaten a bit, he said that he was simply too tired to eat. We let him sleep that night. My eating mates and I watched him flop on his bed. We learned the next day that he had died in his sleep. Taking his forehead protector, I etched his name and slid it into my pocket before taking whatever that would be useful to me from his tool pouch._

_"On the fifteenth day, an armistice was declared. Everyone dropped his or her weapons, no will to fight anymore. It had gone on long enough. Morale was dying down for both sides. Each village collected their dead before retreating to their camps, resting and mourning for the dead._

_"In the Lightning Village, we have dedicated a memorial for all who have died, whether it be during those fifteen days of hell or on missions. It is called the Hall of Mirrors. It is a long hall lit only by twenty-some candles. On each side of the wall, hundreds of forehead protectors hang, the name of the owner etched onto it beneath the Lightning insignia. You don't need many candles, because the forehead protectors reflect the light back and forth into every tiny corner. Each forehead protector is placed on the wall as soon as they are sent in, in the same condition, whether bloody, scratched, or in pieces._

_"To be honest with you, I want to have my forehead protector up on those walls. Everyone whose forehead protectors hang in the Hall of Mirrors believed in something. They believed that their village is worth dying for. I wish to show that I believe it is worth it for me to lay my life down for the village. But until my forehead protector hangs on one of the walls, I feel that I cannot truly show it."_

* * *

It had been one year since Naruto, Hinata, and Itachi returned to Konoha. One year since the fall of the Akatsuki. One year since the release of Orochi…

* * *

The sun had just begun to set, resting just above the forest that hid Konoha from sight. Across from the forest was the Hokage Monument. Dangling his feet from the Fourth's head, Uzumaki Naruto sat there, staring off into the distance. He watched as the sun slowly set, knowing that it would rise tomorrow.

He had long discarded his Akatsuki clothing, though he left the cloak hanging in the closet as a keepsake for memories. He had given it up for something a little more casual. He wore a red shirt that was covered by his Jounin vest. He had black pants with enough pockets for each of his tools, not that he had or needed much. His eyes were still green, his Gensougan constantly on the ready.

He knew what had happened in the past. After returning to Konoha, the group of three was reintegrated into society. Many were rather surprised at the fact that Naruto and Hinata were still alive. Naruto also decided that it was time to tell them about his secret.

There was no main distinguishable emotion toward him, though it was mostly surprise and awe that he had carried such a burden alone for a long time. The Rookie Nine immediately reestablished ties with them. Shortly after, Itachi and Yuki had married. Eager to have the village running with Uchihas once again, they already had a son and were currently having another child. Afterwards, Tsunade insisted that they, along with Sasuke, take the Chuunin exam just to show how powerful they were to the villagers. Needless to say, they passed the exam. To say that they did very well was an understatement. There wasn't a single scratch on them when the exam was finished.

Before long, the Jounin Exams rolled by. Again, they enrolled and passed with flying colors. A short while after, Sasuke decided that there was only one goal left for him to achieve: to be fruitful and multiply. After some careful decisions, he chose Sakura to be his wife, slightly because no one else would want a 'traitor' of a husband and because he knew her the best, though mainly it was out of personal feelings. The wedding was a fairly joyous occasion. Although they definitely weren't ready for children, Sasuke wanted to claim Sakura as his so that no one would dare touch her.

All that had taken place in the short year after they had come back. But what would tomorrow hold for him? For all he knew, tomorrow he may wake up to the scene of Konoha in ruins. Naruto continued to absently stare into the sky.

In the past few days, he had felt as if something had destroyed a piece in the delicate balance of the world. He couldn't explain it, but he felt as if he was connected to it, almost as if he a part of him was causing it to happen. He felt like a part of him was going around killing people, not differentiating between civilian and shinobi. For all he knew, only he was being affected like this. No one could tell that Naruto was feeling this way. Perhaps he was masking it too well since not even Hinata could tell that Naruto was feeling different.

"I thought I'd find you here," a feminine voice came from beside him. Slowly, Hinata's body materialized in a sitting position next to him, her legs crossed in a rather sexy manner. She wore tight black pants and a black shirt. Her scythe was leaning across her body away from Naruto and with the sharp sickle pointing towards Konoha.

"Heh, you always find me here," Naruto responded.

"That's because you always come here and never hide anywhere else." A short pause made itself known.

"Why do you always where black clothes?"

"I have a nickname to live up to, so I may as well look like it."

"I see. Does that mean you wear a mask with a skull on it?" Hinata playfully, though rather painful for Naruto, closed a Tenketsu point on his upper arm. Naruto reopened it with a small burst of chakra. "So did you sort out the affairs?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. As of five minutes ago, Neji was given the position as the head of the Hyuuga Clan. But," Hinata pointed at her ears, "I've decided to keep these earrings. I think I look very nice with them."

"…I really don't understand why you would relinquish your title after having it only for one year."

"I didn't have to, really. However, the Hyuuga laws state that if someone marries into the family, they lose their family name and instead take up the name of Hyuuga. I don't think that is the family name you want our children to have. Besides, I doubt they would have my traits."

Children. The thought of young ones running amok was certainly a tantalizing thought for the both of them. Were they ready for children?

"Do you think we're ready for kids, Hinata-chan?"

"…I… I think so…"

Naruto could feel something stir in Hinata. Perhaps it was want, a need for a desire to be fulfilled. Hinata spoke up again. "Well, we do have a steady income, plus housing probably won't be a problem. I guess the only thing that we really aren't to sure about is… well…"

"Ourselves, right?" Naruto finished for her. She slowly nodded. "We were never raised properly."

Hinata looked down. "Yeah… what if we make a wrong mistake? What will we do?" Naruto could read from her body language that she was scared, but not for herself. The answer made itself clear to Naruto as he leant over to her. He gently placed his hand under her chin and turned her face to him before he kissed her lips.

"We'll never know if we don't try," was Naruto's answer. Within seconds, both Hinata and Naruto disappeared from sight, only to reappear in their bedroom. Staring into each other's eyes, they reached a common agreement.

The winds carried the breaths of screaming. Whether it was from lust and love or fear and terror was debatable.

* * *

Tsunade looked over the man who was sitting in front of her. He was definitely traumatized, but something kept him in his right mind. Perhaps it was because he had found safe haven for himself and his friend. His clothes were dirty and his eyes frantic and scanning the room, almost as if he was afraid that something was going to pop up and bite his head off. He had reason enough to be. He was a Sound Nin.

"So, what exactly happened?" Tsunade asked him. He quickly jerked back to face Tsunade.

"…" The man breathed deep, "Where do I begin?" He closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them.

"It was quiet strange how the monstrosity appeared. It was just outside of the village's wall. It said that it wanted Orochimaru."

"It?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes, it."

"How was it able to speak?"

"I assume that it was a demon, much like the Kyuubi, except probably fiercer."

Tsunade grimaced before continuing the interrogation. "What did it do to Orochimaru?"

"At first, Orochimaru hid, trying to avoid the monster. But it seemed to know that, and destroyed the place where Orochimaru was hiding. He escaped the place, but was caught by the demon and killed. It said that the man would pay for having used his name. Afterwards, our shinobis began to attack it. The smarter ones ran away, though many were cut down by its attacks. For all I know, my friend and I are the only survivors."

'_Orochimaru… what would be the monster's name?'_ Tsunade asked herself before continuing. "So why did you head to Konoha?"

"It was the closest shinobi village."

"Is it possible that there are other reasons for you to come here?"

"Yes. I wish to defect to Konoha."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that you can just traipse in and join our side?" the man trembled a tiny bit underneath her sight.

"Well, Konoha is in the need of shinobis, right?"

"Konoha also knows that shinobis tend to be very good liars," she said in an 'as a matter of fact' fashion. "Let's talk about your defection later. Tell me, what was the monsters name?"

"Well, it was a giant snake from what I saw, it was greenish and was very long. It had eight giant heads, each connected to the trunk of the body." Tsunade froze.

"W-What was its name?" she asked, afraid of his answer.

"I couldn't hear it too clearly, but… I think it called itself Orochi."

Standing up, Tsunade quickly walked over to a cabinet. The man stared in secret horror, afraid that he may have set off a bomb. She pulled out three scrolls and laid them out on the ground. In a poof of smoke, three jounins appeared before her.

"Genma," the man with the toothpick looked at her, "Bring me Uchiha Itachi." She turned to face the last person. "Aoba, get me Uzumaki Naruto and Hinata." Both were rather surprised at her abnormally serious tone, they disappeared in a moment. She knew that it was in the middle of the night, but this was a rather urgent matter.

"As for you," Tsunade pulled out a blue sheet of paper, "here are your defection papers. As soon as you fill it out, you are officially a Konoha citizen. However, until further notice, a team of ANBU will always be watching you." The man wore a thankful smile. "You are dismissed." The man left.

Within the time period of five minutes of being sent out, the three of them brought back their objectives before disappearing. "Is there a reason why we're here, Baa-chan?" Naruto grouchily said. He would have continued to complain if Hinata hadn't hit him or if the Hokage hadn't said that word.

"Orochi."

Time seemed to stop for Naruto. That must have been why he was feeling all strange and gloomy. Why he felt like a part of him just wiped out a chunk of the human population. A part of him was out killing people.

"From what I've gathered, the Sound has been completely wiped out by the demon. In a way, it helps us, but there is no telling what Orochi may do next."

"What of Orochimaru?" Hinata asked.

"He was the first to be killed by Orochi," Tsunade answered. "Apparently, the demon was angered by a mere human having his name. We need to prepare for it, in case that it comes to Konoha."

"I'm guessing that you want us to stop it, Hokage-sama?" Itachi concluded.

"…Yes. If the demon comes to Konoha, it may be even worse than when Kyuubi attacked. I want you three to devise a plan to stop it. Unfortunately, the village can't spare many resources, so you probably won't be getting much help, if any. Also, this information is top secret. No one is to be told about this except by me or if I am in the same room monitoring the conversation. You are dismissed." Nodding in understanding, the three of them left the Hokage's office

Itachi was the first to speak, "So," he trailed off, "any ideas on how to stop an eight-headed snake demon?"

"Well, the three clans originally defeated the demon by mass attack, overwhelming it," Hinata said.

"Why don't we just ask for the entire shinobi population to help us?" Naruto replied.

"Can't do that," Itachi reprimanded. "Even if we do defeat the demon, chances are the casualties will be high. It's going to leave Konoha quite defenseless. And considering how many villages would want to see Konoha in flames, it's not a good thing."

"Besides, I think we should keep this kind of news under wraps. The whole town would go ballistic if they found out that there was a demon snake coming for us," Hinata added.

"So it's just us and whatever that Baa-chan lets us use, huh?" Hinata hit Naruto again. "Hinata-chan, why do you keep hitting me?"

"We've already gone over this discussion. I don't want to bring it up again." Naruto simply crossed his arms and gave off a hmph.

A sullen silence followed. The situation seemed overwhelming. They were facing a demon greater than the Kyuubi, which took many lives to imprison it into one body. Even using the Shiki Fuuin wouldn't work. Since Orochi was comprised of eight souls, they would need eight people to help them. Sealing the demon was out of the picture.

So that meant that they had to defeat it. But how would they do this? The task seemed so daunting, so impossible, that, even though the ideas they thought up of may have worked, it was asking for suicide, something not everyone wanted. It may have been more of a sacrifice than suicide, but still.

"It all feels so hopeless," Hinata said out loud. The two men could not help but agree.

"Well… If we can't defeat it… could we, perhaps, lead it away from Konoha?" Itachi asked.

"We could try but… It would just be the three of us, wouldn't it? I'd doubt that anyone else would want to participate…"

"It looks like its just us three then, huh?" Naruto concluded. He stared at the clock. It read one thirty A.M. "Come on, we should get some sleep. We've got a lot of planning to think about." With no more being said, the three of them disappeared, each knew that the next few days might be there last.

_**The Next Day**_

'_This can't be happening… It just can't!'_ Hinata thought heaving a heavy sigh. _'Why did it have to happen now?'_ With a sudden lurch, she leaned her head over the toilet and threw up. _'I can't let Naruto-kun know…'_ feeling that she wouldn't be throwing up anymore, she slowly trudged back to their bed and hid beneath the covers.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Naruto said. Hinata immediately stiffened up. Naruto could almost hear her heartbeat going ninety miles per hour.

"H-How could you tell?"

"I can smell the baby growing inside of you. A new scent wafts from your body." Naruto turned to face her. "I don't want you to do things you're not comfortable with, but I must ask you this. Please, don't come with us on the mission."

"I… I can't do that."

"…"

"I can't let you go out there alone. If something were to happen to you…" tears began to form on the edge of her eyes. She didn't have to finish her sentence.

"It's okay, I understand. But promise me one thing." Hinata looked up at Naruto. "After we have successfully led the Orochi away from Konoha, I want you to take the first chance you see to go back to the village."

"But-"

"Hinata-chan, you must bear in mind that your actions will not only put your life on the line, but also the child's life as well."

Hinata remained silent.

"Hinata-chan, promise me. Please." Naruto turned over to see Hinata letting silent tears fall.

"Please…"

"Al… Alright. I-I promise," she said, her voice shaky. Thoughts ran through her head, mostly of Naruto dying. "N-Naruto-kun, you make it sound like your going to die…"

"We do what we must. If I have to die so that my village will survive, then so be it."

"But what about your dream of being Hokage? You used to spew it out all the time when you were young, saying how you would be the strongest in the village. What happened to that dream of yours?"

Naruto stayed silent, having been reminded of a dream that he had abandoned when he left the village. Perhaps he could take it up again? He had grudgingly gained the village's respect through his performance in the exams. He did better than he thought he would. Perhaps he was chasing his goal subconsciously?

"It doesn't matter right now. What does is how are we going to keep the Orochi from coming here?"

"The only way I see it is to make our presence known to him, and present ourselves as a target," Hinata answered, her tears stopping.

"It probably would only follow us three, seeing how our ancestors sealed him away years ago. We would also need a lot of power to make us a target for him. He probably wouldn't want to spend his time chasing after weak people," Naruto got up and began to dress.

"Where are you going, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm going to go train," Naruto lied. "If you need me, you'll know where to find me."

What Naruto really was doing was paying Rock Lee a visit.

_**Training Field**_

Among the many training fields, there was one that had training stumps. Among the many training stumps, there was a man. And that man was kicking a stump "725!… 726!… 727!… 728!…72-"

This man is Rock Lee. Strong. Smart. Poor fashion sense. Very thick eyebrows.

Green.

These are the words that describe the man.

"Diligent as ever, Lee," Naruto said.

"Ah! Naruto-san! It's nice to see you!" Lee stopped his kicking. "What brings you here?"

"I need your help."

"Oh? What for?"

"I need you to teach me how to open the Eight Gates."

"What? Why would you need to know that? You're already powerful enough."

"I was given a mission and my target is very strong. He's possibly even stronger than me. I need every advantage I can get."

Lee solemnly nodded. "Alright then. So, as you know, there are eight gates in the human body. They are Kaimun, Kyumun, Seimunn, Shomun, Komun, Keimun, Kyomun, and Shimun."

"Go on."

"There are two ways to open them, though the other method I have yet to use. The first is to concentrate on the gate you want to open. Then you say its name, followed by 'kai.' Doing it this way involves heavy concentration."

"Go on…"

"Gai-sensei told me that the second method was one that required extreme desperation. This requires minimal concentration, but will only work if you are in a dangerous position. I find it difficult to believe this, but what my sensei says must be true."

"I see…"

"Try to open one of them now."

Naruto nodded before gently closing his eyes. Putting his hands together in a seal, he gently inhaled, then exhaled. "The first Gate, Kaimun… Kai!"

Instantly, Naruto could feel his muscles brimming with power. He opened his eyes and looked at his hands. Every inch that he saw was almost bulging with his muscles. He felt chakra coursing through his veins and did his best to suppress it. He looked at Lee, who was surprised to see that Naruto was able to achieve this on his first try.

"Well done, Naruto-san. You shouldn't try to open any more gates for now though."

Naruto turned to Lee and said, "Thank you," before walking away.

However, a large snakehead suddenly emerged from the ground. "Don't think that I wouldn't be able to find you, Uzumaki. Or should I call you Kyuubi?" the snake said in a snide voice.

"What… What are you?" Naruto asked, bewildered by the sudden appearance of the snake.

"Why, I am one of the eight headsss of Orochi. We ssstill don't like you for sssealing usss away for ssso many yearsss."

"Well why don't you come over here so we can seal you away again?" Naruto said, his confident air shrouding his fear.

"Oh, we are, we are. In fact, we're coming from the north if you want to try and ssstop usss. And if you do, make sure to bring Uchiha and your Hyuuga wife."

"I'll be sure of it."

"Very good… SSSee you around," the snakehead began to retreat beneath the ground. "Oh, and don't hide your fear. We can sssmell it." Slowly, with a snake-like laugh, one of Orochi's eight heads slid beneath the ground and disappeared.

Things did not look pretty. Not at all.

* * *

I'm not sure if I got the names of the Eight Gates right. I wrote them off of what I knew and how they sounded like.


	26. Faith

It's here. You've all been waiting for it, and I have done my best todo it justice. I was trying to explore a different method of writing, though it is only recognizable at a certain part.

Here is the second to last chapter of "Encyclopedia Ninja."

I bet you were expecting last, huh? After this chapter, I intend to put up a prologueish thing that will also state the statistics of this fic at the end. It will hopefully answer the questions that this fic has posed to itself. Either way, I will now post responses to reviews. I know that Fanfiction won't allow it, but I'm going to do it anyway to show my disapproval of their decree.

GirlWaterShaman: I suppose I failed the deadline, didn't I?

Shinta Azechi: I'm sorry if I am being cheap, but I really wanted to get this fic going. If I wrote about the year, it would have just been a filler arc like the anime series. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like that, would you? I know I wouldn't.

animewatcher: Don't worry. I have several fics in the making (I hope). If you want, you can read "The Uchiha Crest." It has yet to get into the good parts, but I hope to make it a fic as good as this one.

aznpuffyhair: Sorry, but Kyuubi... well... just read the chapter.

ch0c0b0fr34k: It wasn't supposed to be a coincidence. My original intention was that it sensed Naruto's presence because he opened the first Gate. But I guess it all worked out in the end...

imsospecial: The metallic sphere doesn't really play much of an important role. I only intended it so that Hinata could get a weapon, and maybe attempt at why Kisame's weapon was what it was. I also played around with the idea that Naruto would give the sphere to Sasuke, but then I scrapped the idea. For simplicity's sake, how about we agree to the fact that it was destroyed when the Akatsuki lair collapsed?

Fic Slayr: What Kyuubi feels will be explained in the prologueish thing.

Inuchickie: I was watching the Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight in the Chuunin Exam arc. Seeing how the Gates didn't close themselves or forcibly, I simply guessed that they closed gradually.

Oh yeah, quick note. I'm not sure if I recieved something asking me if I would permit this fic to be a part of the C2 WHY (We Hate Yaoi). I don't really care what C2 this is put into, but ask me first if you want to add a fic of mine to a C2. However, I will care if this C2 endorses the hating of the people who like Yaoi, since it doesn't reflect how I feel. As we say in my church, "Hate the sin, but not the sinner."

I read this disclaimer somewhere, and I found it rather funny. So I decided to adopt it for this part.

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I simply play with them by making them play with each other. (I just noticed that this can be interpreted in more ways than one.)

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 26: Faith 

What defines faith? Some consider it to be just a bunch of philosophical talk, that everything in this world can be scientifically proven, that every aspect of a phenomenon has a reason. Others say that it is a belief in something higher, that everything on this earth is not here through evolution, and that, in times of great peril, there are such things as miracles.

Such belief in faith has led to the creation of religions. The most common one, as recorded in Encyclopedia Ninja, is called Christnin. The followers of such faith believe that there was once a ninja (whose name was believed to be Christ, as abnormal a name can be in their language) so great in both physical and moral attributes that he single-handedly defeated a horde of demons that was marching against humanity. Not only that, but he sacrificed his life to defeat the ultimate evil shinobi and sealing his body away in a gigantic tomb, ensuring that he would be sealed forever. Christ was said to have ascended to heaven for his selfless acts. It is also believed that one day he will come back onto earth to redeem humanity.

However, the simple existence of the Kyuubi disproves this religion, although, in their texts, it is written that the great ninja had spared one demon during the great battle.

Faith will make people do astounding things. It is their ultimate hope, their ultimate guide, their ultimate lifeline.

How far will one go to display their faith?

How much are they willing to give?

How much are they willing to lose?

* * *

There was no time to waste. Naruto quickly began to run back to the house he shared with Hinata. How had the snake found him? Was it because they caught his scent in the wind? Maybe it knew all along. 

Could it really smell fear? Perhaps it could also determine who it was by the fear they emit. It would make sense. But if it really could smell his fear then…

Naruto's heartbeat increased flew to an all-new level. Fear. It was an emotion that he hadn't felt in a long time. The last time he truly felt fear was when he had been on the dangerous C-ranked mission that quickly became perilous. It was there he realized that, as a shinobi, fear is something that you will constantly face. Slowly, his fear started to fade away over the years.

So then what brought up his fear now? Perhaps it was because he was going against something that simply was neither human nor animal, but demon. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the inhuman. Fear of what is coming.

But he had a mission to accomplish. As he approached, he saw Hinata walking through the front door, dressed in her regular attire and her scythe in her right hand, prepared for a regular day's work.

"Hinata-chan, you have your earrings on?" Naruto asked as he approached her.

"Of course," she answered, "Why?"

"Good. I have a feeling we're going to need it," Naruto said, "Come on, we need to get Itachi." He gently grasped her wrist before dragging her along with him.

"W-What's going on?" she asked.

"It found us."

"It?"

"Orochi."

"What? How?" Hinata yelled.

"Apparently, it can smell fear. Somehow, it must have been able to pinpoint my specific scent. But it also knew about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of me."

"It makes sense. The Orochi is comprised of the souls of the Eight Heavenly Beings, one which was the Kyuubi." Quickly, they reached Yuki's house. They ran up and rang the doorbell.

Nothing. Impatient, Naruto rang the bell once more.

Still nothing. Now peeved, Naruto continually rang the doorbell when he heard a click. The door opened and out stepped a slightly tired and disgruntled and Itachi. "Why are you guys here? Don't you know how much I hate waking up early on Saturdays?"

"Sorry, Itachi-san, but-" Naruto began but was cut off.

"You woke up Sato, too. Now he's going to be upset till about noon."

"I understand the inconvenience, but we have to-" Naruto tried once again.

"And what is it with you and doorbells? Seriously, once is enough. If you ever do that again, I'll-"

"Itachi-san, please, this is serious!" Hinata pleaded. "We're out of time. Orochi has found us and he's coming."

All traces of disgruntledness and sleep deprivation left Itachi's face. "No… not that fast… It couldn't have."

"Somehow, it has. We have to lead him away from the village or stop him outright," Naruto said.

"But I can't just leave Yuki with Sato! She can't take care of a child right now!"

Naruto's face turned grim. "If you don't come with us, your child may never grow up." Itachi got the point and yielded.

"Alright, I'll be back in a moment," Itachi said. After a few minutes, Itachi stepped outside once again, holding a letter in his hand. He had donned a black outfit with his forehead protector where it belonged; the only thing that wasn't black was his Uchiha Ring. "I have a feeling we'll need this," he gestured to his ring. Then he bit his thumb. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" smoke shrouded their sites until it faded away, revealing a black raven. Itachi tied the letter to the bird's ankle, "Take this letter to the Hokage." The bird nodded before flying off.

Itachi turned to Naruto. "Let's go then." However, a feminine voice called out to them.

"Itachi-kun, where are you going?" the mentioned man stopped. It was Yuki.

"I'm sorry for the delay, but please, let me speak to my wife before we leave." Naruto and Hinata nodded and Itachi walked back to his wife.

"Yuki-chan…" there was a moment's silence.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Itachi only nodded.

"I'm sorry, Yuki-chan," he gently held her shoulders. "There is a possibility that I won't come back. Please, take care of Sato and the next bundle of joy," Itachi's hands drifted over her abdomen. Yuki lowered her head, tears forming on the edge of her eyes. However, Itachi's left hand tilted her face back up to his.

She was almost shocked to see that tears were falling from his eyes as well. "If I don't come back, I want you to live with my brother at the Uchiha Estate. There is more than enough room there as well as funds to support yourself and the kids. You are an Uchiha now. I'm sure that my brother will understand." Yuki nodded before Itachi took her lips in what may be their last kiss.

Hinata, having seen this, brought her right hand over her abdomen. There was a chance that the child inside of her may never see light. If the three of them should fail, then Konoha would be a thing of the past. Naruto saw her actions and walked over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I know how much you want that child, and I know how much I mean to you. But please, remember your promise to me." Hinata solemnly nodded her head before Naruto took her into a hug. He gently kissed her forehead as she trembled in his grasp, doing her best to keep the tears from falling.

Finally, Itachi let go of Yuki and averted his eyes. Drawing a breath, he said "Goodbye, Yuki-chan," before he turned and walked away to Naruto and Hinata. The said couple separated and turned to Itachi. Each nodding, they quickly sped off to the North Gate.

As the trio approached, the guards spotted them and signaled to the group to halt. Knowing that they had no time to spare, Naruto easily leapt over the wall, with Hinata and Itachi following his actions. Hopefully, Itachi's letter would clarify things for the village. But those were trivial matters.

They dared not to look back. If they saw how comforting their home was, they may never have the willpower to leave it. Increasing their pace, they were anxious and afraid of what they would encounter. They ran for what felt like hours on end in a straight path, paying no heed to their surrounding of trees and grass.

Something was definitely wrong. Naruto looked around, trying to see something out of the ordinary. Even with his Gensougan eyes, there was nothing to be seen that was out of place. And yet something felt wrong.

"Hinata-chan! Itachi-san!" Naruto called out. Hinata and Itachi turned and gave Naruto their attention. He signaled for the group to stop. "Do you feel it?" Naruto asked. Hinata and Itachi both shook their heads. "It feels like we've been going in circles."

"How is that possible? We've been going in a straight path. Unless…" Itachi trailed off and looked to Hinata. She nodded and activated her Byakuugan. She gave out a groan.

"Genjutsu. Apparently a very good one if none of us noticed it," she said. "We were too preoccupied."

"Orochi must have had fun watching us run in circles looking for him." Naruto commented.

"If we've been running in circles then…" Itachi leapt up into a tree branch. He swore loudly before coming back down. "It looks like we're only about a mile away from Konoha." Itachi readied his katars. "This battle may be closer to home than we think." Hinata clutched her scythe in a tight grip.

"We should try to get away from Konoha. Perhaps it will only want us instead of the whole village," Naruto suggested. Nodding to each other, the group once again headed north. But instead of a full run, they approached at a cautious walk, prepared for anything. Slowly, they ambled away from Konoha.

They walked until around midday. They took a short break, eating some rations and drinking some water. All the while, the group could not help but feel a pair of eyes watching them. Feeling uneasy, they got ready before setting off on their journey. However, before they could leave, a gigantic snakehead emerged from the ground. Immediately, the trio had their weapons ready to strike.

"Ssso you've finally decccided to ssstop running…" the snake said. Slowly, it pulled its body out of the ground.

"We're not going to let you even come close to Konoha," Itachi seethed. "I won't let you!" he yelled with a conviction that Naruto and Hinata had rarely heard from their previous teacher. He must have had Yuki in mind.

The snake let out a sinister laugh before a bright light surrounded the demon. Blinded, the trio covered their eyes but kept their senses on its toes. As the light diminished they were able to look at where the snake once stood. However, they were instead greeted with a man. He had a circle with eight lines drawn going out on his chest. His hair was white and his face was, in the most modest way, handsome. He wore tight white pants and pointy black shoes. The man gave off a small smile.

"It feels good to be whole once again, you know that?" Orochi said. "After so many centuries of being unable to form this ultimate body, it feels so good to feel limitless chakra going through these veins…" the demon looked at his hands and clenched his fists. "You three shall pay for each of your family's sins against me." Naruto, Hinata and Itachi looked onward at the demon as eight green scaly heads suddenly extended around his body.

Naruto, Hinata, and Itachi prepared themselves for whatever the demon would throw at them. They remembered the strange black ball that Rugal had thrown at Kisame. Would Orochi use that attack as well? If the demon did, there wasn't much they could do to defend themselves except dodge it.

"Not going to do anything? Then allow me!" Immediately, Orochi extended his left arm with its hand open and launched a black sphere at Hinata. Luckily, she was fast enough to evade it. However, being the demon he was, Orochi had a trick up his sleeve.

"You can't just dodge it!" the demon closed his hand, causing the sphere to explode. Hinata was sent flying through the air and rolled on the ground a bit before recovering. Her clothes were a bit singed. She quickly stood up with her scythe in position. Then she took her right hand and did a hand seal before disappearing.

The message conveyed by her jutsu was clear to Naruto and Itachi: keep him busy. Immediately, Itachi charged forward with his katars in hand. Orochi lashed his snakeheads at Itachi. However, Naruto intercepted them with his tails. Grabbing them, he lit his tails with white fire. The snakes hissed in pain while struggling to get free. Itachi took the opportunity to cut off a snakehead while he charged at Orochi. Naruto let go of the now limp snakehead and used his free tails to try and restrict the demon and burn it. However, even with the tail restraining him, Orochi punched Itachi in the chest, sending him through the air and crashing into the ground.

Now the demon focused its attention on Naruto. With a quick yank from him and his snakes, Naruto was flung off balance and dragged towards him. Unfortunately for Naruto, the snakehead had sprouted where the old one was cut off and was lashing towards him. He rolled out of the way and freed one of his tails holding onto Orochi to restrain the snakehead. Quickly, Naruto sent a trail of fire towards the demon. Focusing on the fire hurtling towards him, he quickly sidestepped it.

Wrong move. Hinata quickly reappeared at his side and gave a vertical cut to him. Orochi stepped forward, leaving his snakes open. The snakes were cut off and Naruto's free tails began to assault him with quick burning lashes. As Orochi tried to dodge them, Hinata once again attacked, this time using a horizontal slice. The demon leaped over and delivered a sweeping kick to Hinata's shoulder, sending her flying. Naruto used his tails to catch her.

However, that was the opening Itachi needed. With blinding speed, Itachi charged in and stuck his katars into the demon, its blood splashing on his robes. He continued to stab him in delicate spots, where a normal human would have been killed in seconds. As Itachi raised his hand to stab the demon once again, it reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping the blow. It punched Itachi in the face. He tried to get away, but the demon's hold on his wrist was too strong. Bleeding from his mouth, he attempted to stab Orochi through the arm with his other katar. The demon withdrew his hand, giving Itachi the chance he needed to get away.

Orochi looked at the damage. He had burns, numerous punctures, and his snakes were cut. Hinata had numerous bumps and bruises. Itachi was bleeding from his mouth. Naruto, however, was fine. "It appears that I have underestimated you humans," Orochi said. Closing his eyes, he felt his wounds begin to heal. Slowly, the stabs and burns disappeared and the snakeheads regrew.

"It's a shame," he said, "that you can't do much, Uzumaki." Naruto gritted his teeth. He was baiting him.

Orochi gave off a cruel smile. Turning towards Hinata, he let his snakeheads fly towards her. Immediately, Naruto attempted to send aid with his tails. However, the demon, having suddenly gained incredible speed, appeared in front of him and punched, sending him into a tree trunk and breaking it into splinters. As he stood up, he watched as the snakeheads began to try and grab Hinata. She attempted to dodge and cut them, but it was too much. They moved much faster than before. Itachi had tried to step in and help her, but Orochi appeared in front of him and kicked him hard in his stomach and crashed through several tree trunks before landing. It was obvious that he was unconscious. Slowly, he watched as Hinata was bound in place by the snakes. Slowly, the demon approached her.

"I came here hoping to see the climatic clash between the four of us, seeing who would walk away victorious. But…" Orochi trailed off. He looked at Naruto in the eye. "I'm disappointed your performances." He turned back to Hinata. "Personally, I was expecting an Uchiha and a Hyuuga to marry, since they carry bloodlines. Back then, it was considered to have been wise to combine them, but it never happened." He raised a hand and touched Hinata's abdomen.

Immediately, Hinata felt violated. She would never have let anyone touch her like that except for Naruto. "But I never expected a Hyuuga and Uzumaki to marry…" she tried to struggle, but the snakes simply wound themselves tighter around her body. He touched her stomach again, "I see that you're expecting."

Naruto instantly flared up. Stretching an arm forward, he released his tails towards the demon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Uzumaki," Orochi said with a deadly smile. Naruto watched as one of the snakeheads brought itself close to her neck and opened its mouth, revealing long fangs. Naruto's tails stopped short and quickly retreated back to him. He gritted his teeth. "Touched a nerve, have I?" the demon said. Slowly, he began to rub Hinata's stomach. She continued to struggle, not wanting this kind of contact from the demon.

Naruto could feel raw rage building up inside of him. He tried to calm down, but it was no use. The figure in front of him was committing a crime against both him and Hinata. He tried to just breath in and breath out, but with each breath he took, it was another stroke over her body. Another time that she was touched by the demon. She was his wife. He simply could not watch her get fondled in such a manner without letting his anger rise.

Unbeknownst to him, black chakra began to gather at his feet. Naruto balled his hands into fists. He would kill this demon. Kill it without mercy. Orochi looked over to him and gave off a wicked smile, feeling his killer intent. It looked like just one more push and Naruto would be over the edge.

Orochi slowly brought his hand lower and touched her between the legs. Immediately, she gasped and went wide-eyed, a faint blush on her cheeks. Her body lurched against her own will.

The demon could practically hear Naruto's mind snap as rage filled his entire senses. The only thing Naruto knew now was to destroy Orochi. There would be no forgiveness for touching Hinata in such a manner. A black fire suddenly formed around Naruto, forming a pillar as dark as night. It seemed to suck in whatever light was around it.

Orochi gave the pillar his full attention. He saw Naruto stir inside.

He smiled.

No sooner had he smiled then had he rushed out of the pillar of fire and clawed at where he stood. Had it not been for his demonic reflexes, Orochi would have sported several cuts.

Naruto wasted no time in cutting Hinata free from the snakes that bound her. She dropped to the ground and scooted away before shakily standing up behind Naruto, her scythe ready. She almost gasped when she saw Naruto.

No longer did he have the red-yellow hair. Instead, it was replaced with blood red. His whisker marks were elongated and darker. He had claws on his hands. But his clothing stood out the most. No longer did he have on regular black clothing. He had on a black trench coat along with black pants. It had a piece of cloth attached between the knees. However, this black was no ordinary black.

The black that was Naruto seemed to almost absorb every wave of light. He was almost like a black hole. The only part that wasn't sucking everything in was his hair. She had seen him sporting a different look during the Chuunin Exams. This, however, was something very new to her. Deep down inside, she prayed that she would never have to see Naruto like this again.

"Don't you _ever_ touch her," Naruto trailed off. His voice was dripping with venom that felt like it would have killed anyone who heard it. The killer intent radiating from him was never this great. It was almost enough to send her to her knees. Her knuckles became deathly white from gripping her scythe.

"Hinata-chan," he said. His voice was no longer as harsh, but still contained the killer intent. "Please give me you earrings and Itachi-san's ring."

Numbly, she handed him her earrings before going towards Itachi and removing his ring. She gently put it into his palm.

"Please take Itachi-san and go."

"Wh-What?" That was what she was expecting.

"Take Itachi-san and go," was all Naruto said.

"No! I can't just leave you here!" she yelled.

"You promised me. Please," He said slowly.

Hinata looked down at the ground. She suddenly wished that she could break the promise she made. She wanted to stay and fight the demon together with Naruto; to make sure that he got back safe; to make sure he would be around when the child came. She simply wanted to go back on her words to protect Naruto.

But…

"I can't keep that promise, Naruto-kun. I want you to be safe. I can't just leave you to die here."

Naruto said nothing.

She held her scythe in a ready position.

"So that's it? And what about your nindo? How you wouldn't take back your word?" Naruto said. In truth, that was all he needed to say. She was pinned.

Hinata looked down. She stepped out of her stance. She drew in a shaky breath.

"Please, Hinata-chan."

Turning around, Hinata walked over to where Itachi lay. Gathering some chakra into her arms, she gathered him up, trembling. She looked over her shoulder towards Naruto's red eyes. He looked at her and saw a teardrop fall. Wasting no more time, she quickly ran towards Konoha. Naruto looked towards Orochi once again.

Gathering his emotions, he calmed himself down and dispersed Kyuubi's chakra. Once again black chakra swallowed him up before dissipating and leaving him in his normal state.

Silence.

"You were smiling, weren't you? It was tough to feel, but you were smiling."

"Yeah, I was. Why do you ask?"

"I want to know. Why were you smiling?"

He smiled once again, chuckling, "We both shouldn't exist."

"What do you mean?"

"We are outside of the laws of Nature. We're both demons."

"I guess I can see your point…"

"What about you? You were also smiling."

"Me?"

"Yeah. It was impossible to see through the black fire, but I could feel that you were smiling."

"As for me, I smiled because I'm going to kill you."

For a moment, they both smiled.

_**Konoha**_

Everyone could feel it. It was as if a rare, thick fog had suddenly descended onto the village. The tension was so thick, that one could taste it on their lips. But she only tasted her tears.

Hinata was sitting on a hospital bed, looking out of a window towards the direction she came from. Apparently, she had some cracks in her bones, but luckily no fractures. She looked at where the snakes held her. Apparently, she had some bruises there, but she would live. How she didn't feel the pain while running back to Konoha was a mystery that she decided to leave unsolved.

Itachi's wounds were a bit more serious, though not life-threatening. He had a broken rib, a fractured wrist, and some cuts and scrapes when he was sent flying through the trees. He was still unconscious though, but it was predicted that he would awake within several hours.

But the pain from her bones wasn't something she was thinking about. Now that she was out of the fight, she was thinking only of Naruto.

It looked so bleak now. She felt there was no hope left for Konoha and their… no… her child. Naruto was putting his life on the line.

And he was going to die. Orochi was too much for all three of them. How could he manage to win alone? She let her tears fall down her cheeks. There was no point in stopping them.

There was no chance in stopping the demon. She could feel them fighting and the landscape they were fighting on being reduced to rubble. The door opened behind her.

"You can feel them fighting, can't you?" Tsunade said, slowly walking into the room. Hinata nodded.

"Can you tell who's winning?"

Hinata shook her head.

"What about their chakra levels?" Tsunade asked.

"You know the answer."

"I know you can sense it better than I can."

"Very high. It's almost unnatural." Tsunade looked out the window.

"It is unnatural, Hinata-san."

"For you it is. I've been fighting by his side for years. I'm used to his high chakra levels but…"

"But?"

"His killer intent. You felt it, no?" Hinata asked.

"I did."

"_That_ was unnatural. I've never felt anyone release a killer intent so great."

The pair simply looked out the window.

_**Naruto**_

A simple glance would have given insufficient information about who was winning. Both Naruto and Orochi had no cuts or bruises. The only way to tell that they had been hurt was the bits of dried blood on their ripped clothing. But right now, they were at a standstill. They were facing each other.

"It's a shame, really," Orochi said. "We could have been friends."

"Only you could think of such a thing during a battle," Naruto answered, smirking as well. "But it doesn't matter. I know how to kill you." Orochi raised his eyebrow when Naruto thrust his arm to the side.

"It's time I stopped fooling around. Souseiki **(1)**!" Quickly, blue chakra that was strung with white and black strands leaked out of Naruto's arms, slowly winding around it. It gathered into a lump at Naruto's palm. It began to grow in size and take the form of a man. Eventually, chakra stopped flowing out of Naruto's arm. The body of chakra began to take facial and body features and change its colors. It built chakra pathways, complete with Tenketsu Points.

Eventually, it built itself into another Naruto, copying his exact look, down the last tear in his pants. "I've been working on this jutsu for a long time. I was tired of Kage Bunshins taking only one hit before disappearing. So I spent years increasing my chakra capacity to the point that I could split it in half and create a separate entity with it. It's a… hybrid of a jutsu I know."

"I've never seen such a jutsu like this. Did you show it to your wife?"

"Showed it to her last night."

"Did she scream?" Orochi donned a lewd smile.

"Very loudly." The Narutos stepped away from each other, positioning themselves on opposite sides of Orochi. "Seeing as how it's just me and you, I'm not going to hold back." Slowly, white chakra veiled one Naruto while black chakra engulfed another. As the chakra receded back into the bodies, it revealed both Narutos in the two Fox Style taijutsu stances.

His clone was the exact opposite of him. It had formed the Holy Fox stance. Its clothes were a clean white. It almost blinded him. The true Naruto, however, was in the Fallen Fox stance. After seeing how Orochi manhandled his wife, there was no way he would let him go other than death.

And even then, death was too good for the demon. Giving Orochi no relief, he quickly launched a trail of black fire towards it. He ran up to it as the demon sidestepped. His other self intervened, going in for a fiery jump kick. With the opening, Naruto extended his claws, and slashed at Orochi.

He felt satisfied when he saw cuts on the demon's side. They weren't deep, but they seemed to hurt more than the previous wounds he inflicted up it. Lines of blood formed at where he cut, some bits dripping down causing streaks.

"It would appear that you two can match my speed," Orochi said. "Indeed, this will be quite the fight." Orochi rushed towards the real Naruto, with full intent on destroying him. His snakeheads were ready. Launching them out, they hissed and snapped at him.

However, he was forced to leap away from white flames as the fake Naruto made several sweeping punches at him. Orochi grimaced. There was no easy way to defend against such flaming attacks. The nature of fire allowed it to easily override barriers.

While Orochi was leaping away, Naruto decided to strike back. With his claws at the ready, he rushed in with the intent to stab the demon. The first stab was dodged. However, his creation had struck from the back, forcing the demon to evade as much as possible. Taking the opportunity, he stabbed Orochi.

The demon doubled over in surprise. The pain from Naruto's claws hurt more than Itachi's katars. But he was given no breathing room, as the fake Naruto gave a strong punch to his back. It was too much. The pair that he was fighting worked as one, striking at the same time, constantly keeping him on the defense.

And even now his defense had failed him. He could only feel immense pain as he was stabbed, punched, and kicked. The flames continued to harrow his body of what strength he had left. Each attack made him feel weaker and weaker.

He had to fight back. Pushing out huge amounts of chakra, the pair of Narutos was pushed away. "It appears that I cannot even keep up with you two…" Orochi attempted to keep his body straight. "I have let you go too far with your cockiness." The demon coughed up some blood. "But no matter, for your time is up."

The demon closed his eyes. A dangerous glow surrounded him as the Narutos slowly backed away. Suddenly, the glow exploded in a flash of light, forcing the pair to cover their eyes. As the light faded, they were awestruck.

"I mussst commend you for forcccing me into this position." One of the heads said. The Narutos were face to face with Orochi's full form. It's eight massive heads reared high above the trees, slowly conjoining into one long body. The thickness was immeasurable. "But, this game endsss now." One of the heads quickly lunged at the pair. The Narutos quickly leapt out of the way and onto a secluded branch. Naruto looked at his faux self, which nodded. Placing his palm on the fake's shoulder, the fake Naruto slowly began to dematerialize into chakra before reentering Naruto's body. There was no need for the clone now. He needed all the chakra he could have.

Plus, he doubted that he would survive anyway.

As the last threads of chakra entered his body, Naruto knew what he had to do. He let his demonic chakra leak out. It slowly covered his body in darkness before leaving him in black clothing and red hair. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

"The first Gate, Kaimon…" he prepared himself, "kai!"

A surge of chakra ripped through Naruto's body. It felt good to have this much chakra.

But it wasn't enough. And he doubted that he had enough time to open them one by one. An idea came up in his mind. It might not work, but it was worth a shot.

"…Kyumon…" Orochi reared up its head once again. It had detected a large chakra surge

"…Seimon…" Looking around, the snake searched for Naruto.

"…Shomon…" Unable to see him, it sniffed through its eight nostrils

"…Komon…" The demon whipped around.

"…Keimon…" He was in that tree over there.

"…Kyomon…" Quickly, it lunged.

"…Shimon…" It was ready to bite down on the man.

"Kai!"

The surge of chakra was so great that even Orochi was pushed back. Dirt was lifted up and blinded the demon's heads. Suddenly, a black and white fire quickly traveled out of the dust and hit the demon, leaving it paralyzed.

"What isss thisss?" Orochi cried out.

"It is a binding technique. That's all you need to know," Naruto said. As the smoke dissipated, it left Naruto surrounded with a black and white chakra. Gathering as much chakra as he could into his right hand, he raised it above him. Slowly, the small flame grew to immeasurable proportions, mixed with both black and white flames. It was almost like a miniature sun.

All eight pairs of eyes widened. "No, you wouldn't!"

"Yes, I will," Naruto calmly said. He gathered more chakra into his right hand. After this attack, he would die. However, his emotions were split between killing the demon and protecting his special people. His form continued to change, as if they were drawing out the battle within him. He let his emotions run wild, focusing only on the need to gather chakra to his right hand.

"You wouldn't kill your brethren!" Orochi yelled. It was pathetic almost to Naruto. "We're both demonsss! We mussstn't destroy ourselves!"

"No…" Naruto answered Orochi. "Only you are." By now, the sun in his hand had grown to the size of a face on the Hokage Monument. That was almost all he could put in. Compared to it, he was only an ant. Swinging down towards the ground, he released the chakra at the demon's feet.

Immediately, a gigantic pillar of fire consumed Orochi, the pillar breaking open the clouds. The surroundings immediately became lit up by the light, if not burned by the flames. The demon barely had the time to scream before its flesh was turned to ashes. The fiery pillar was white with black threads circling it. His emotions were still mixed, but he had accomplished his mission. Taking out the three jewels, he watched as the ashes entered them and disappeared into nothing. He could almost feel the eight souls being forced apart and split into the winds.

He gently pocketed the jewels. He closed his eyes. It was over. There would be no more fear of Orochi not for a long time, at least.

He was tired. He read about how death felt. Often, the dying person would state how they felt cold.

Odd.

It felt warm. Falling backwards, he let his fatigue take over him.

* * *

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

For some reason, those sounds were rather familiar to Naruto. He opened his eyes to see dark brown walls and puddles of water.

He had been here before. Slowly, he ventured into a large room. He expected there to be metallic bars.

Strangely, there were none. Instead, a voice pierced the darkness.

"Damn it, Kit. You're SO stupid!" There was a large emphasis on stupid.

"Kyu-Kyuubi?" Naruto stuttered, "Is that you?"

* * *

**(1)** Souseiki - Genesis (as in Bible book Genesis) 


	27. Epilogue

Well, the end has come. The final chapter of Encyclopedia Ninja is here. I'm rather saddened that this fic must come toan end. But I guess it's okay since I still have several moreideas to put into writing. I want to thank all of my reviewers, whether you left something good or bad. Anyway, let's get to the good stuff.

RLnaruhina: I too am saddened by the ending of this fic. But I'm also happy, since I now have more time to work on other fics.

Jays Arravan: I almost didn't make an entry because I forgot, but thanks for reminding me.

Arsenel: Well... in a way, Naruto DID die...

The White Dwarf: Sorry, but there was no link. Email it to me. And if I took that from someone, then I'm sorry, because I did not know it was out there.

loyal reader: No. Sorry, but that's not what I'm aiming for to end this fic with.

Firehedgehog: Kind of.

Angelic Warrior: When you read this chapter, you'll realize that... well... just read.

Dairokkan: NORMALLY. Keyword.

animewatcher: I kind of felt that too. But some reviewers said that it was a great fight scene. I really don't know. Maybe it was great in another manner?

DotDotDotMan: Sorry, but I don't think there will be a sequel for this. From what I see in movies and videogames, sequels are almost never as good as the first, and I feel that I would make a crappy sequel, whether I try my best or not.

madnarutofan: No, that did not happen... kind of.

Coco Cow: Here is your explanation.

Kira-Reen:Yeah, from the fics that I've read, other than "The Lazy Uchiha," there aren't many fics where Itachi is portrayed as a human. Maybe it's because the fics I read usually have him as the bad guy...

raven guy: I'm going to guess that you got confused at the part where they were talking about seeing the other smile. I purposely made it so that it could be seen as one or the other saying each line. I suppose I was experimenting back there.

DiamondBlade64: Yes, they did what you think they did.

Archangel: Wow, is it really that good?

Quick question: Where can you check hits for your story?

I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.

Onward!

* * *

Epilogue 

An out-of-body experience (defined by Encyclopedia Nina, of course) is a medical occurrence so rare that many doctors will not have to face the problem in their lifetime. The reasons why it is doctors that may go through this is because, usually, the people who go through this had almost died.

It is reported that when a person goes through an out-of-body experience, their body becomes medically dead. They see the surroundings of where they are. They can clearly see doctors working feverishly on their body, IV tubes going in and out of them. Eventually, the body comes back to life, leaving a barely alive person who has no idea what just happened.

This rare occurrence has given rise to debates about whether or not there is a soul in the human body. It has also created the debate of Heaven and Hell, though on a smaller scale.

Whether or not scientific officials declare that there is a soul, Naruto would know the answer.

"In the… well, you can't really say flesh…" Kyuubi trailed off. It looked almost like Naruto. However, his hair was entirely red, instead of being yellow at the base and red at the ends.

"I thought you died," Naruto said.

"I did. Or at least my body died. Unlike you humans, we don't just die and disappear. Our physical bodies die, but our souls stay in this plane of existence," Kyuubi answered.

"Am I dead?" Naruto asked.

"No, but you're rather close. Either way, you weren't really paying attention when you heard my will, no?"

"Your will?" Naruto was confused. After a year of thinking that Kyuubi had died and gone away, here he was, in the recesses of… somewhere.

"God, you really are stupid. When I gave up my soul, you became trapped in your own body. And then you found my will," Kyuubi reminded him.

"Oh…"

"Anyway, you missed the most important part about the body I left you with. Humans have eight chakra Gates. My body has gifted with nine. In fact, all of the Legendary Beings have nine Gates. That explains why your body didn't explode like Rugal's body."

"Hmm…."

There was silence for a moment.

"So why are you here?" Naruto asked. "Orochi has been defeated and the Eight Great Souls have been scattered."

"Well, I decided to pay a visit before I go off and make a body for myself. It won't take that long, a year or so, maybe a bit longer."

Naruto gave Kyuubi a hard stare.

"Don't give me that look. I'll be good," Kyuubi told Naruto. "I promise."

Naruto lessened the glare.

"So do you have any questions, concerns, anything you want to know before I have to leave?" Kyuubi asked.

"How can I trust you to be good?"

"I helped you, didn't I? I gave you my body to defeat Orochi with. Plus I taught you some fancy stuff. You trusted me with those, can't you trust me with this?"

Naruto was silent.

"Well, if that's all you want to know, then I guess I'll be off." Kyuubi turned around and began to leave.

"Wait," Naruto called. Kyuubi turned around. "Why did you attack Konoha?"

"To inform you, I have also left you with my previous memories. However, I will spare you the work of digging and simply tell you." Kyuubi took in a breath. "The truth is, Konoha had become too powerful under the Yondaime Hokage. Not just strength-wise, but also politically. Being one of the Eight Legendary beings, my job is to help regulate power to make sure that one village doesn't become too powerful.

Kyuubi took a deep breath. "The other reason is because your father was a boastful man."

To say the least, Naruto was stunned. "Y-You knew my father?"

"Yes. Very well, in fact. He had proclaimed that Konoha had the power to stop the Kami. Naturally, I was asked to take care of him, seeing how he was in my relative area."

"Who was he?"

"Your father was the Yondaime Hokage," Kyuubi said.

"What? He was my father?"

"Yeah. Although he was boastful, he didn't ignore his people. He knew that asking the people for a newborn to undertake the task of holding me was too great of a request. So he used his own, you."

"So… in a way… you killed my father?" Naruto asked.

"If it helps you in any manner, he kind of killed me too."

"…"

"Anyway, I'm out of he-"

"What made you want to help me? You were only doing your job as a Being, and yet after being sealed, you choose to help me. Why?"

"…" Kyuubi stayed silent.

"…If you don't want to talk about it, that's oka-"

"I guess you could say that it's to atone for something I haven't been able to forgive myself for," Kyuubi said, taking in a deep breath. Naruto simply looked incredulously at Kyuubi. "Hey, I have feelings too."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Do you want to know or not?"

Naruto remained silent.

"Fifteen hundred years ago, I was wandering around in my human form in a forest, kind of just waiting for something to happen. That was when brigands jumped me. A lot of them. And they weren't regular brigands either. Apparently, they used to be shinobis, but turned to thievery. I was almost ashamed that I couldn't detect them.

"I managed to defeat them without much effort. However, before they fled, one of them threw some poison gas at my feet. I don't know how powerful it was, but was obviously more than fatal to humans. After inhaling just a tiny bit, I was already suffering from it. My healing abilities kept me from death, but not from going unconscious.

"That's when she found me."

_**Meanwhile**_

Rushing through the trees, Hinata paid no attention to her bruises as she leapt through the branches.

She had seen the gigantic eight-headed snake.

She had felt the inhumane amounts of chakra leak out of his body.

She had witnessed the gigantic pillar of fire that lit the sky in a calm gray, making everything else simply appear as a dark shadow. She remembered how it was white and had black fibers running through it. It was a shadow of fire, still hot and burning but lacking the bright flare.

She believed that he would be dead after such a maneuver. But she still had to take a look. Being a medic nin means that she knew much about the human body. Being a Hyuuga meant that she knew more than any other how the chakra coil system works.

She knew that the only way for Naruto to have gained that much chakra was by opening the Eight Gates. And that would lead to his death.

But she had to make sure.

_**Naruto and Kyuubi**_

"She?"

Kyuubi ignored Naruto, entrenched within his memory. "She told me her name was Hiroko after I woke up in her house. She was rather young and rather pretty at the age of eighteen. Apparently, she was walking home after having picked some herbs in the forest. That's when she found me unconscious on the path and took me to her house. I told her a bit about myself, how I was just a traveling warrior and how the brigand's knocked me out by their poison gas." Kyuubi paused for a moment.

"…?"

"She never really told me how she got me to her house."

Naruto noted how Kyuubi was lost within his memories.

"She told me a bit about herself. She lived alone. No parents, no relatives, not even friends. She was simply a girl raised in an orphanage. After she left, she made a living picking and selling herbs, although the money she made was rather meager. The house she lived in was simply an old rundown hut that no one knew existed that was next to a nameless stream.

"I wanted to pay her back for her hospitality. Even though she kindly refused, I didn't care. The next day, I went out with her to pick herbs. Then, while she was out selling them, I began to work on building her a proper house. When she got back to make dinner, I went and caught some game for us to eat.

"We repeated this process for almost a year. We became close to each other. I loved her and, even though she tried to hide it from me, she loved me too. After I finished building the house, we confessed to each other. She told me that she loved me, even though I wasn't human. She knew that as soon as I told her I was knocked out by the poison gas. Any human would have died from it. I told her that I was indeed not human and was instead the Kyuubi. I told her that I loved her, even though she was human. We made plans to marry within a month.

"I told her I had some business to attend to and that I would come back within two weeks. The truth was that I had gone to form the Orochi, as it was time. It just so happened that the village chosen was where Hiroko was considered a citizen. They drew lots and she just so happened to be one of the unfortunate eight.

"I recognized her as soon as the eight were in sight. I was stunned to see her there. That tiny lapse gave the other heads the chance to make their kill. After they did so, the heads detached and disappeared, the soul gone in a direction away from there. It was just Hiroko and I now. I don't know how she made the connection between the Orochi and me, but she made it.

"She walked up to me and told me to do what I had to do. At first, I refused, claiming that we could get change the sacrifice. I almost rushed off to the village, but she called me back. She told me that it wouldn't be fair for the other. And then she told me to kill her.

"And I did." By now, Naruto was staring into Kyuubi's eyes that were lost deep within his own memories. Slowly, he watched as a tear made its way down his cheek before he wiped it away and continued.

"I made it as quick and painless as possible. Using one of my fangs, I pierced through her left shoulder and into her heart. As my body changed back, I began to cry. When I returned to my original form, I gently picked her up and buried her at the house. After that, I burned the house down and watched it fall apart. Still crying, I walked away from the house and never looked back.

"After that, I secluded myself. I didn't kill unless it was for food or I was ordered to. I simply couldn't forgive myself of what I did."

"I guess I wanted to help you in her memory."

"…"

"So, can you find it in yourself to forgive a demon like me? I know I caused you a lot of trouble," Kyuubi said to Naruto.

Naruto gave a small smile, "Yeah. Just remember: it wasn't your fault."

Kyuubi returned his smile. "Well, if you're out of questions, then I guess I'll be off now. I'll keep an eye over you and Hinata."

"Thanks but I do have one more question. How can I help prevent Orochi being released again?"

"Well, since you've destroyed his body, the ability to form the Orochi has been bound once more. It would take centuries for the bindings to become weak enough for the power to be released again."

"Oh."

"However, what you can do is take the three jewels and hide them throughout the world, like maybe throw one into the ocean or something."

"But… these objects are heirlooms. I can't just throw them away. Is there another way we can deal with them?" Naruto asked.

"Well… Put them in separate secure storage places. That's the only other way to deal with the problem. Now if that's you're last question, then I'm out of here. You'll probably be very tired once I leave." A small pause was present "Well, see you around." And like that, Kyuubi disappeared.

Naruto tried to say goodbye, but…

Damn…

He was really tired.

_**Real World**_

Hinata had arrived at the scene of the battle. A huge circle stood in the place of the trees that were destroyed. It looked to be about several kilometer wide, though she could not be sure.

Almost tangent to the circle, she spotted Naruto, lying on his back. Hinata ran over and knelt by his side. His body was motionless.

It was as she thought. He had died. Gently, she placed her hand on his cheek and stroked it. It was still warm. He had died recently. And judging by the smile on his face, he died happy or at least knowing that he accomplished his goal.

As she caressed his cheek, his body seemed to slowly return to the land of the living. His head tilted towards her before he mumbled something that vaguely resembled her name.

Instantly, Hinata retracted her hand. She watched as Naruto's chest rose and fell according to his breath. So he was still alive. She smiled as the fact slowly registered in her mind. Gathering chakra to her limbs, she lifted him up onto her back. His body almost towered over her, but she had carried heavier things than him.

Slowly, she walked back to Konoha, leaving the destruction and ruin behind her.

* * *

Statistics as of October 17th, 2005 

As reported by Microsoft Word...

Pages: 263

Words: 108,348

Paragraphs: 3,218

Lines: 11,968

Reviews per chapter...

1: 42

2: 28

3: 33

4: 18

5: 21

6: 27

7: 19

8: 22

9: 20

10: 12

11: 24

12: 17

13: 36

14: 36

15: 39

16: 27

17: 28

18: 72

19: 43

20: 63

21: 60

22: 54

23: 51

24: 59

25: 43

26: 49 at Archangel

27: To be determined

Average review per chapter: 36.3461538461538461538...

Chapter with Most Reviews: Chapter 18

Chapter with Least Reviews: Chapter 10

Time spent: 364 days. Heh. One day before a year.

Total pages of Reviews: 63


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